


Spanner in the Works

by IWP_chan



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: "flower trio", "riku kairi lea/axel" the new "sora donald goofy", (they happen), Feels, Fluff, Gen, Pre-Relationship, Sora Heart Hotel, Soranort AU, actually more cracky than you think, because i can and i will, i just listed the main ones, kairi as honorary member of the Sora Heart Hotel gang, kairi-lea/axel get their own pseudo x-burner, kh3 paopu scene but with riku, my hand slipped okay??, only half of this fic is about soranort whoops, other characters show up too - Freeform, pre sorikai, riku-kairi-lea/axel try the hero team thing, sora-repliku friendship gives me warm and fuzzy feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 17:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 27,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22346986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWP_chan/pseuds/IWP_chan
Summary: Sora gets Norted. It’s too bad Xehanort forgot Sora is the cosmic spanner in the works.
Relationships: Axel & Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Axel & Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi/Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Lea & Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Riku Replica & Sora
Comments: 10
Kudos: 132





	Spanner in the Works

Summary: Sora gets Norted. It’s too bad Xehanort forgot Sora is the cosmic spanner in the works.

_Note: Soranort is one concept I wouldn’t have touched before with a 100 foot pole because it was all angst and that’s not my Thing (my Thing being crack), but then KH3 happened and I realized the Norted characters (not counting Terranort) don’t act all that different from themselves, that’s when I went “what if Sora gets Norted at the end of DDD but he’s still Sora” and this was born._

**Warnings: Soranort AU But Actually Not That Angsty, Liberties Taken With Repliku And Vanitas, Riku-Kairi-Lea/Axel Try The Hero Team Gig, Soranort Fic But Actually Only 50% About Soranort, Kairi Learns Fire Magic And The World Shudders, Pre SoRiKai, Kairi-Lea/Axel Become As Flamethrower, Gummiship Shenanigans At Some Point, Kairi As Honorary Member Of The Sora Heart Hotel Club, This Is A World Where Sora Becomes Your Adventuring Guide. After A Fashion, Repliku’s Blatant Crush On Sora, Soranort Maturity Levels: 0, Nort The Boy But Just Make Him Extra Scatterbrained Instead, Tearful And Emotional Reunions, Paopu Fruit.**

**Disclaimer:** Don’t own KH.

.

Riku struggled against the hold Ansem had on him, dread rising within him as he watched Xehanort send a part of his Heart Sora’s way, uninterrupted in its path.

"No," Riku whispered in horror as the Heart slipped into Sora’s chest with ease.

There was a beat of silence as everyone observed, waiting for what would happen next.

Darkness exploded out of Sora as he threw his head back and screamed, voice echoing, almost as if multiple voices screamed at once. He hunched over, hands clutching his head, pulling at his hair.

And then, Sora stilled, the Darkness surrounding him calming down and wrapping tightly around his form before melting away to show a familiar black body suit, though etched and shaded in red instead of the blue Riku was familiar with.

Sora gracefully stood up in the chair, opening golden eyes framed by brown, black, and white bangs to stare at everyone blankly.

"Sora!" Riku shouted as he changed his grip on his Keyblade to swing at Ansem, causing him to release Riku.

Taking it as their cue, Mickey and Axel renewed their struggle to break free from Xemnas and Saïx respectively.

Sora’s blank expression twitched into a mocking grin, "Sora?" He scoffed, his voice the same as Sora’s but so very different, this time lacking the strange echo, "Sora is a little bit _preoccupied._ " His grin widened, and Darkness pooled around his feet, strange creatures popping out of it, looking nothing like any Heartless or Dream Eaters Riku had seen before.

Mickey gasped, "Unversed! You are-"

The Not-Sora mock saluted before he threw himself into the back of the chair, disappearing into it with a flash of Darkness.

"This is interesting," Xehanort spoke, causing Riku, Mickey, and Axel to turn their attention towards him after Not-Sora’s abrupt departure.

" _Xehanort_ ," Riku ground out, his free hand clenching into a fist. Darkness bubbled inside of his chest, lurked at the back of his head, lingered on his tongue. He inhaled sharply, gripping the Darkness tightly and wrestling it down. He couldn't succumb to it, not now, not again.

"Oh?" Axel snapped, "And what's interesting?"

Xehanort merely grinned in response, "That wasn't a voice I expected to hear from your so-called Hero of Light. But it seems even that ordinary boy has a surprise or two he’s hiding."

Riku glared, fingers shaking in their tight grip as rage threatened to overwhelm him.

"My thirteen Darknesses, your seven Lights. But it seems like you're losing your Lights one by one. Our time is running short, but we'll meet again," Xehanort said, his body fading along with the other Organization members occupying the room until they disappeared.

.

Sora emerged from the portal of Darkness and stumbled, falling into his hands and knees into warm sand, the sound and smell of the sea surrounding him.

He had somehow arrived at Destiny Islands, but that wasn't what he cared about at the moment.

He curled his arms around himself protectively as his vision focused inwardly. He could see five figures fighting atop a platform of stained glass depicting him in sleep, with the images of his friends right next to him.

Four of the fighting figures pressed against the fifth clad in Darkness.

Names popped into his head as he observed the fight. Roxas was easy to identify; next to him stood the black-haired girl he thought was Namine initially, Xion.

Ventus, shining with Light and looking so much like Roxas that if Sora didn't know any better, he would have mistaken the two.

( _Ventus, his Heart whispered, and the sound of clinking armor surrounded him like the protective layer wrapping around him tightly, coming straight from Ventus’ Heart_.)

Vanitas, another wave of Darkness, pushed the fifth into the edge of the platform.

The fifth, Xehanort, pushed back, insistent on taking control.

Sora wouldn't, _couldn't_ , give it to him. Riku overthrew Xehanort's control on him before, and it meant that Sora _had_ to do it, too. It was the least Riku deserved after fighting so hard, the least the other four fighting for Sora’s sake deserved.

"Sora?!" He faintly heard Kairi’s panicked voice and felt her hands land on his shoulders.

"Kairi," He whispered, voice hoarse, as he wrapped his arms around her. In response, she hugged him tightly, burying her face into his hair.

"Sora, what’s happening to you?"

"I-" he choked on his words, focus wavering between what was happening outside of him and what was happening inside of him.

"Okay, okay, I got you, I got you." As she finished speaking, her Light shone inside his Heart, creeping from the edge of the platform and forcing the fragment of Xehanort back against Vanitas' Darkness. The two of them boxed him in between them, with Roxas, Xion, and Ventus fanning out around them to keep an eye out for any openings that Xehanort might use to slip from the chokehold Vanitas and Kairi had him in.

Xehanort was but a fragment, facing against a group of full-fledged Hearts, inside of Sora’s Heart that held many people within but never yielded control to any of them, only gave. They could do this. They could keep Xehanort at bay until they found the opportunity to push him out with no worries.

The platform glowed and the scenery changed, leaving the Hearts and the intruder on a replica of the play island.

Sora turned his attention towards the Secret Place, and nudged the others. Understanding what he meant, they pushed Xehanort into the Secret Place and beyond the door, sealing him in with a satisfying click of a lock.

With Xehanort posing no immediate threat, the others in Sora’s Heart rushed towards him, hovering around him and checking on him.

"I'll be fine."

.

"I'll be fine." Sora smiled at her, still every inch of the Sora Kairi knew and loved despite his eyes turning yellow and his hair white.

As if sensing her thoughts, Sora bashfully tugged on a lock of his hair, "I'm sure this is temporary." His nose scrunched and his lips turned into an unmistakable pout, "Don't really feel like rocking the Xehanort look."

Kairi couldn't help herself, and she laughed. "Oh, Sora."

Sora grinned at her as he stood up, pulling her with him.

"I gotta go now." He looked at her apologetically, but Kairi smiled at him in understanding. She felt the Hearts within his just like she felt his and understood that Sora had to go do something for their sake.

And honestly? She wanted to help, too, for all that she hadn't spent as long as the others had in Sora’s Heart, she still felt connected to them.

"I'm sure Riku’s gonna come and get you, so we can cover multiple fronts."

Kairi raised an eyebrow, "And what if he doesn't?"

"He will, I'll make sure of it if I have to." Sora grinned mischievously, and Kairi laughed again.

Sora’s hands grasped hers tightly, and she could feel his Heart and the Hearts within him connecting with hers. She traced that connection, focusing on her hands, before light flashed between her hands and Sora’s, leaving in its wake Destiny's Embrace.

Kairi gripped her Keyblade tightly and nodded resolutely at Sora.

.

The silence inside Master Yen Sid’s study was stifling, grating on Riku’s nerves as he fought against the Darkness bubbling inside of him.

There he was, previously hoping he could prove himself against the Darkness, proving to himself that he was worthy of wielding a Keyblade, of finding the strength to protect what matters.

Protect what matters. Right. Because he was oh so good at that.

He clenched his fist as his mind flashed back to the sight of Sora in the dark suit; the sound of his voice echoing with another speaking alongside it.

A distant part of Riku wondered how Sora ever dealt with the situation when Riku was the vessel for Xehanort, because Riku sure as fuck didn't know how he could ever deal with the situation now that their roles were reversed.

He didn't think their roles would be reversed, ever.

His thoughts were interrupted when Yen Sid spoke up, "To think Xehanort would go to such extremes to achieve his goals. Riku, I did not realize Xehanort was involved when I lost track of you and Sora at the start of your exam and reacted appropriately, as I should have. And for that, my apologies."

Riku blinked in shock and then shook his head, squashing down on the vindictive part of him that was pleased with the regret that Yen Sid exhibited, "None of us could have expected Xehanort to go that far to take Sora. I couldn't do anything to prevent it even though I was there."

"Riku," Mickey said, eyes downcast and ears drooping.

"Well, what do we do, now?" Axel, Lea, asked, arms crossed.

"Xehanort is gathering people on his side and preparing to recreate the clash between Light and Darkness that will result in the creation of the X-blade, and subsequently summoning Kingdom Hearts." Yen Sid said, hand stroking his beard.

"Xehanort said he planned to have a clash between thirteen Darknesses and seven Lights," Mickey said, "But we don't have seven Keyblade wielders to counter him. If we don't have all seven, who knows what Xehanort might do to create the X-blade. Last time, he used Ven, and Ven…" Mickey trailed off, pain flashing through his eyes.

"If we do not have seven Guardians of Light, Xehanort might use the Seven Hearts of Pure Light."

"The Princesses of Heart?" Riku frowned.

"So we go to those Princesses and guard them. Right?" Lea asked.

Yen Sid shook his head, "I'm afraid it’s not that simple. The Light held in the hearts of the previous Princesses had moved on to a new set of Hearts unknown to us."

"So we have to find them?" Lea uncrossed his arms, "Alright. Fine. We'll find them." Then, under his breath, he whispered, "Why do I always get stuck with the icky jobs?"

"Riku," Yen Sid started, "I have two matters to discuss with you. First, about your exam-"

Riku shook his head, "It doesn't matter. I have to get Sora back."

"Very well. As for the second matter, I heard from Mickey that your friend, Kairi, has the ability to wield a Keyblade. I must ask that you bring her here for training, as we can't afford to leave her defenseless, especially considering she was part of the former group of Princesses of Heart."

Riku exhaled. He couldn't really argue as Yen Sid was right. "Alright. I'll go get her."

.

Dread rose up within Riku as he stared down at Destiny Islands from the Gummiship and thought about the upcoming conversation with Kairi, wondering how he could possibly explain the situation to her.

'Hey, remember back when I was very dumb and got my body possessed by another guy? Yeah well that other guy, kinda the other guy, is now possessing Sora’s body.'

_That_ was sure to go over _very_ well.

The ship landed on the play island, hidden deeper among the trees. Goofy and Donald, who insisted on taking him to the islands and then bringing him and Kairi back to the tower, gave him worried looks.

(Riku knew his situation had to have looked very bad if _Donald_ was worried for him.)

He nodded at them and stood up, "I'll be back soon. Hopefully." With that said, he left the ship.

Luckily, he found Kairi sitting on the trunk of the Paopu tree; he had worried he'd have to go to the main island to look for her.

When she didn't turn to look at him when he approached her (and he didn't bother trying to silence his footsteps as he didn't want to scare her by sneaking up on her), he knew he was in deep trouble.

He took a deep breath and crossed the remaining distance between the wooden bridge and the tree.

"Kairi-" he started, but cut himself off as Kairi hopped off the tree and turned towards him, her Keyblade held at her side.

"Riku. Good. I was waiting for you."

What.

.

Riku had expected Kairi to stab him, or at least slap him, but she didn’t. In fact, she didn’t even say anything, simply following him back to the Gummiship with a thoughtful expression on her face.

Riku didn’t know what scared him more: what she could be thinking about, or the fact that she didn’t react to him returning without Sora.

(Heaven knew Riku would have reached for something sharp if someone left with Sora but _didn’t_ return with him.)

The trip back to Yen Sid’s tower was uncomfortably silent.

.

“Master Yen Sid,” Riku started as he entered Yen Sid’s study, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy trailing after him, “I brought Kairi.”

Riku gazed back and forth around the room, switching between the occupants to observe them, keeping a special eye out on how Kairi would be reacting to the others present in the room, considering that Lea was present, and the last time Kairi and Axel were in each other’s vicinity, Axel had ended up kidnapping her.

Lea merely looked at her briefly before he studiously looked away from her, while she startled slightly, blinking in shock before smoothing her expression and turning her gaze to Yen Sid. Riku knew Lea had no reason to hurt Kairi at the moment, but he still made sure to remain in Kairi’s peripheral vision while casually maintaining his spot between the two.

Mickey smiled at them in greeting. Master Yen Sid nodded at Kairi, his eyes closing in concentration briefly before snapping open and focusing on her.

“Kairi, welcome,” he said, “We have much to discuss.”

Kairi nodded, and Yen Sid took it as his cue to start explaining the situation to her.

.

Even groggily opened his eyes to see a pair of unsettling yellow eyes staring at him, causing him to flinch in shock and tumble out of bed as he fought with the blanket draped over him in his surprise.

He continued to fight sleepily with the blanket as his mind took notice of the room he was in; it was definitely his room from the time he spent as an apprentice of Ansem the Wise. Vexen was destroyed at Axel’s hands, so it was no surprise to Even to find himself recompleted and back in his own room if he was found and brought back by someone who knew him from back before he lost his Heart.

His musings were interrupted by the sound of an amused chuckle, and that was when he remembered the yellow-eyed stranger.

Even stood up, adjusting his coat to look presentable, and cleared his throat as he turned to face the stranger while mustering his best aura of superiority.

“Who are-” The words died on his throat as he registered the “Hero of Light” standing next to his bed, looking maybe a year older than Vexen remembered him, and sporting white hair and yellow eyes that looked unnatural on him, “What do you want?” He asked sharply.

Sora grinned brightly, bringing his arms behind his head in a relaxed pose, “You’re Vexen, right? The replica guy?”

“It’s Even now,” Even responded, frowning at Sora, “And I was the leading researcher in the Organization on replicas. How does that concern you?”

“Let’s say I’d like you to make some for me.” Sora dropped his arms to his sides, but still looking as relaxed as earlier, “Say, four of them. Three of them as fast as you can. Can you do that?”

Even sniffed imperiously, “Why should I?”

Sora shrugged, “I could keep bugging you about it? I’m stubborn so I won't leave you alone until you do it.” He summoned his Keyblade, and called forth a flame at the tip of it, letting it burn brightly, “I could pull the ‘cooperate with me or else’ card, too? It won’t be fun, but I’d do it.”

Even shrugged, “Regardless of what you want and what you threaten, from what I observed, we are back at the castle in Radiant Garden, and last I knew, all of the developed research notes that really matter are in Castle Oblivion.”

Sora nodded, “I see. To Castle Oblivion it is.” With his free hand, he gestured towards the far wall, where a Corridor of Darkness formed, causing Even to raise an eyebrow in interest; the Hero of Light, capable of using Darkness to the point he could summon Corridors of Darkness?

Now _this_ was bound to be interesting.

.

Riku had tuned out Yen Sid’s explanation as he knew all the important details, and let his attention be drawn inwards as he focused on the Darkness bubbling within him, which had been extremely restless since Sora disappeared after Xehanort forcibly pushed a part of himself into Sora.

Riku was not surprised, but it wasn’t new to him either, so he knew how to handle the Darkness, to lull it back into its previous state. Ready to be used to help and protect, instead of lashing out needlessly and harming innocent people.

After he was finished, he pulled his attention back to the room around him, just in time to hear Yen Side explain to Kairi about the Seven Hearts of Pure Light.

“You say the Pure Lights in the Hearts of the other Princesses have moved on to new hosts,” Kairi said, and Riku focused on her, watching her nervously tap her fingers along the length of her Keyblade, “But the one in my Heart didn’t. I can still feel it.”

Riku wanted to be surprised at the revelation, but he really wasn’t. It was just Kairi’s luck that she was still stuck with the role of a Princess of Heart, and thus with an extra target on her back. But Riku also knew she would have probably been counted among the Seven Guardians of Light anyway considering how short they were on Keyblade wielders. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, and all that.

Yen Sid nodded thoughtfully, “Indeed. I don’t have any answer as to why. But it means you are most definitely one of the Seven, whether they end up being the Guardians or the Hearts of Pure Light, and, as such, a target for Xehanort.”

Kairi sighed, and Yen Sid continued, “This is why I asked Riku to bring you here. It is imperative that you start your training immediately.”

Kairi nodded, straightening her posture and staring at Master Yen Sid with determination shining clear in her eyes.

“Lea would also be starting his Keyblade training along with you.” Yen Sid gestured in Lea’s direction, and Kairi quickly glanced at him before glancing back at Yen Sid.

“Alright, but…” Kairi tightened her grip on her Keyblade, frowning slightly, “How would we be training? And where?”

“I have contacted Merlin about it, you and Lea shall head to Radiant Garden and he will train you.”

“And I’m supposed to stay there?” Kairi’s frown deepened, “I can’t. I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“Kairi? What is it?” Riku asked her.

“I can’t sit still, even if I’m training, knowing Sora is out there,” Kairi said, “I don’t know where he is right now or what he’s doing, but I know I need to look for him. I can train on the road, Sora did it, so I will do it too.” Kairi stared unflinchingly at Yen Sid, “I know you said the Pure Lights left the Hearts of the previous Princesses, and Xehanort probably knows that, too, but I want to check on them. Just in case. Plus, most of them are friends with Sora, who knows, we might find him in their worlds. We also need to find the new Seven Hearts.

“You said we’re short on Guardians, and Xehanort knows it, so he might use the new Seven Hearts instead.”

Yen Sid sighed, “That is true. If Sora was here, I would have assigned this task to him while you and Lea trained, but alas he is not. And I can’t let you go by yourself.”

“By myself or not, I’m going.”

“I’ll go with her.” Riku stepped forward, bringing attention to himself, “She can train with me, and she won’t be alone while looking for the new Seven Hearts.” _And Sora_ , he thought, but didn’t say out loud. From the look Mickey sent him, he didn’t even need to.

Mickey then shared a look with Yen Sid before Yen Sid nodded, “Alright.”

Mickey smiled at Riku and Kairi, “You can take the Gummiship with you, Donald, Chip, and Dale will give you a rundown on how to fly it. You don’t have to worry as Chip and Dale will keep in contact with you in case you have any more questions about operating the Gummiship while on your journey.”

“ _What?!_ ” Donald squawked, “Your majesty, why would you leave them to fly it! I can fly it just fine!”

Mickey chuckled lightly, “Oh, I was thinking of having you and Goofy accompany me to look for Aqua, if you don’t mind.”

Donald squawked again, though this time Riku had trouble deciphering what he said, despite that, he could tell Donald was denying ever minding accompanying Mickey, going by the smile on Mickey’s face and Goofy nodding along with him.

“With that decided,” Yen Sid said, returning their attention to him, “Lea, with Riku’s and Kairi’s plan, you have two options: you could head to Radiant Garden and train under Merlin, or you could accompany them on their journey to find the new Seven Hearts. Which do you choose?”

Kairi startled at the question, and side-eyed Lea. Riku placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a small, comforting smile, and she relaxed slightly.

Lea huffed, “Is that even a question? I’m going with them, of course.”

“Very well then. Journey safely.”

With the implicit dismissal, Riku and Kairi bowed their heads before straightening and turning to head out the door, followed by Lea and Donald.

They descended the stairs in silence, each deep in their own thoughts.

When they exited the tower, Lea broke the silence, “Hey, um, Kairi, can I talk to you for a moment?”

Kairi froze before slowly turning to face Lea. She stared intently at him before nodding jerkily, “Sure. Okay.”

Riku gave her a concerned look and she smiled shakily at him. He looked pointedly at where the Gummiship was parked a few feet away and then back at her, wordlessly asking her if she wanted him to stay with her. She shook her head slightly, and he nodded slowly at her.

“Donald and I will be in the ship. Catch us when you’re done,” He said as he turned and headed to the ship, Donald walking next to him.

Riku made sure to look back at Kairi and Lea, both when he reached the ship and when he entered the cockpit, checking that he could still see them through the protective dome. Lea was talking, though Riku couldn’t read his expression from his position in the cabin. Kairi had her back to the ship, but her stance seemed relaxed, Keyblade resting at her side. Riku figured he could take his eyes off them, and turned his attention towards Donald, who had his arms (wings?) crossed and was glaring at him impatiently.

Riku smiled sheepishly and Donald huffed in annoyance.

“Alright, let’s get you started then,” Donald said, before his eyes narrowed, “And you better find Sora and make sure he’s okay, is that understood?”

Riku nodded gravely, “Of course.”

Donald sent him a suspicious look before heading towards the front of the cockpit and pressing a button near the steering controls. A screen on the console lit up to show Chip and Dale.

“Donald! Riku!” Dale waved cheerily.

“What is it?” Chip asked.

“We’re teaching Riku how to fly the Gummiship,” Donald responded. Chip and Dale nodded, and then they, along with Donald, launched into a lengthy lecture about what each component of the ship did.

It felt like an eternity before Kairi and Lea entered the cockpit, and were subsequently pulled into the lecture as well.

.

Despite how their initial interaction at the castle at Radiant Garden went, their trip to Castle Oblivion and down to the basement floors, where Vexen worked on the replicas, was considerably quiet.

Sora seemed more focused on taking in the details of the Castle with a confused frown on his face as if trying to figure something out about the place.

Even distantly wondered if Marluxia’s plans to manipulate Sora into becoming his attack dog had worked, or if the Castle was even still under the Organization’s control, given that no one approached them since they stepped foot in the Castle, which Even found strange of the Organization if they still operated inside the building.

Did Sora even remember his ‘journey’ through the Castle? Manipulating his memory was a big part of the plan to use him, so it wouldn’t surprise Even if his memories of his time in the Castle were altered as well.

Despite his curiosity, Even didn’t care enough to ask, his main priority being the retrieval of his research notes of his replica program. After all, he didn’t decide to cooperate with Sora out of the goodness of his heart, or out of fear of Sora’s threats (though the prospect of being constantly bothered by Sora until he caved was highly worrisome). He was a scientist, and he wanted his research notes back, and on top of that, creating functioning replicas for Sora would serve as a great testing ground for his program beyond the Riku replica.

It didn’t take long for the two to reach the lab and attached study where Vexen worked and kept his notes and files. The place didn’t look like it was touched at all since Vexen left it, and Even concluded that Zexion didn’t last longer than Vexen did.

If Ienzo was reformed like Even, awake, and back in Radiant Garden, then Even could rope him to help with the replica creation.

Leaving Sora at the entrance, Even made his way inside the lab to start gathering his notes.

Thankfully, he was left to work in silence.

Even was still far from done when he was interrupted by the sound of a very familiar chuckle.

Sora, still standing in the doorway, turned around to face the newcomer, crossing his arms, “Xemnas. What do you want?”

Even returned to his work, but kept some of his attention directed at Sora’s and Xemnas’ conversation. Unfortunately he couldn’t hear most of it, barely catching snatches, as Sora moved to the hallway and decided to give Xemnas the silent treatment (brave, but foolish, in Even’s opinion), while Xemnas spoke in his usual low baritone and didn’t seem to be bothered to raise his voice.

Then Sora finally spoke up, voice loud enough for Even to hear, “Oh, really? And here I thought you had me all figured out. Since I’m so honest and incapable of deception.”

There was a moment of quiet, and Even guessed that Xemnas was talking.

“Yeah, right!” Sora said, irritated, “As if I’ll let you have him!”

There was a loud, amused chuckle, then Sora stomped back into the lab, and Even figured that Xemnas left.

“‘Nothing will please us more than Roxas’ return, of course.’” Sora mock-imitated a deeper voice, rolling his eyes, “As if.”

Roxas was involved?

Right. Probably more Keyblade wielders-related headaches, and frankly, Even didn’t care.

.

Donald exited the ship, leaving behind a trio of bewildered Keyblade wielders staring blankly at the consoles in the cockpit, trying to remember what Donald told them. Chip and Dale had already disconnected their call a while back after they finished rattling off their own instructions.

“We’re going to crash this ship, aren’t we?” Lea asked matter-of-factly as he threw himself at one of the chairs in the cockpit.

Kairi sat down carefully in another chair, placing her Keyblade across her knees, “We absolutely are.”

Riku, left with the pilot chair, stared at the steering controls before exhaling and raking a hand through his hair, “Sora could do it, it couldn’t be _that_ difficult, could it?”

Silence met his question. Riku sighed.

“Alright. Guess we’re flying this, then. You two ready for take-off?”

Lea gave him a lazy, two-fingered salute, “Take it away, captain.”

Kairi mock-saluted him with her Keyblade.

Riku, about to turn and sit in the pilot chair, frowned, “Kairi, is there a reason you still have your Keyblade out?” Translation: was she planning to surprise-stab someone with it?

Kairi stared at her Keyblade, an embarrassed blush rising to her cheeks as she smiled bashfully, “Ah. Um. It’s because I don’t know how to summon it again after I let it go?”

Riku blinked in shock, “Oh.”

Lea slumped in his chair, “Tell me about it. Wanted to go to the rescue, Keyblade swinging, but it didn’t come to me. Must be in the snap of the wrist or something…” He raised his hand in front of him, Keyblade materializing in a flash of fire.

The three of them stared at the Keyblade in shock.

“What,” Lea said, tone flat.

Riku rubbed the back of his neck, “Well. There is that, I guess. Now we know what to start our training with. But first.” He sat down in the pilot chair, “Which former Princess do we check on first?”

.

Ienzo turned around quickly at the sound of footsteps behind him, and his jaw dropped when he saw Even stepping out of a Corridor of Darkness while dragging a cart full of files.

“Ienzo!” Even called sharply and gestured towards the cart, “Take this and put it in my study. Don’t take too long since we still have more to move.”

“What?” Ienzo blinked as he moved to take the cart, “What is it?”

“My notes on the replica project.” Even straightened his coat.

“Weren’t those in Castle Oblivion?”

“They were. Now we’re moving them here since we have work to do.”

“We?” Ienzo wondered as he pulled the cart towards the door of the computer lab, “What kind of work?”

“Creating replicas!” A cheery voice responded, and Ienzo turned to see another figure emerge from the Corridor, pulling another cart.

Ienzo tensed when he noticed the white hair, but then he registered the way it was styled in messy spikes framing a familiar face.

“Sora?! What happened to you?”

“Eh, it’s kinda a long story.” Sora shrugged before frowning in concentration as he looked at Ienzo, “I don’t remember if we met before, though.”

“I- I was Zexion, a member of the Organization-”

“You two can talk about it later!” Even barked, “Not get to work!”

.

Riku spent most of the check-up visits to the former Princesses of Hearts making weak excuses to not be present while talking to the Princesses, heck, to not even be _anywhere_ near wherever they lived, and then disappearing in search for Moogle shops to get extra supplies before searching for a secluded spot that could work as training area. He even went ‘patrolling’ to see if there was any Heartless or Nobody threat lurking around to fill up his time more while Kairi and Lea talked with the former Princesses.

It was pathetic, but honestly, it was awkward to actually ‘visit’ the former Princesses when the last time he ‘interacted’ with them, he’d kidnapped at least half of them a couple of years back to further Maleficent’s and Ansem’s plans.

Every day, Lea and Kairi would go to check in on the former Princess of the world while Riku ran his self-assigned ‘errands’, and after Lea and Kairi finished their check-ups, they’d catch up to Riku and start their training.

The two spent their time focusing on the basics under Riku’s ‘tutelage’ (and wasn’t _that_ a ridiculous thought- Riku, a _teacher_ ), learning how to consistently call on their Keyblades until it was second nature to them, figuring out a set of Keyblade strikes they felt comfortable performing in sequence, and practicing their magic, mostly first tier spells of the basic elements, using the technique and magic booklets that Riku and Sora (mostly Sora) bought from Moogle shops during their exam, and miraculously still stuck around in Riku’s Inventory (or Magical Infinite Pockets, as Sora called them once).

Lea, however, managed to get Kairi casting up to Fira by the fifth day of their journey, and to teach her almost every possible way to incorporate it into a fighting style, helped along by Kairi remembering ways she’d seen Sora use it before.

(“She’ll be flinging Firagas around everywhere, soon!” Lea had crowed, while Riku made sure to keep Firaga Burst and Mega Flare booklets hidden. As well as all the Balloon spells booklets. He was sure the universe wasn’t ready for Kairi using Balloonra. He also wasn’t going to be caught dead with those booklets in his pocket, nuh-uh.)

(Maybe he should teach Kairi Wavesurfer instead.)

(Was it even possible to teach others Dream Eater Link Styles? Didn’t matter, he’d find a way and make it happen.)

Whatever talk Lea and Kairi had back at the Tower seemed to have helped Kairi relax around him; by the fourth day, she was joking around with him and initiating challenges. Riku made a mental note to ask her about the talk later.

.

There was no sign of Sora whatsoever.

.

The day before the three were to head back to the Tower to report to Yen Sid about their progress before starting the next part of their journey, Riku decided to bring up the idea of a detour scheduled after their check in at the Tower.

“A detour?” Kairi asked, lowering her Keyblade and letting the fire that merrily danced at the tip of it for practice flicker out and disappear before turning her full attention towards Riku. Lea blinked away whatever haze that seemed to have befallen him while staring at Kairi, and followed her gaze towards Riku, who marked another mental note on his list of ‘Lea Things to ask Kairi about’.

“For training,” Riku answered.

“A specific detour for training?” Lea frowned slightly, “Well, I guess training on the road isn’t always the most beneficial if we’re lacking in variety of opponents, huh?”

Riku blinked at him, somewhat surprised that Lea noticed it as well.

Kairi frowned, “But wouldn’t we face more from now on, since we don’t know where we will be going and so wouldn’t know what we will face? I thought that was how Sora did it.”

Riku half-shrugged, “Well, yes, but also it’s a place that Sora also went to for training.”

Kairi’s mouth formed an ‘o’ shape as understanding sparked in her eyes, “Oh, you mean Olympus Coliseum, where Sora met his friends Hercules and Cloud?”

“Yes.” Riku nodded.

“And this Coliseum is good for training from what you’re implying?” Lea asked.

“There are training grounds and tournaments of different tiers that we can enter and see how far we can make it before we lose a round,” Kairi said, a wide smile on her face, “Sora talked about it a lot, said there were Heartless and Hydras!” Her eyes widened, glee shining through them as her smile sharpened and she leaned forward in excitement, “And creepy, wiggly monsters that prey on your darkest, innermost secrets and insecurities and use them to crush you. And beings as tall as the Coliseum and you can only hit their sturdy feet and hope they don’t step on you.”

“ _What?_ ” Lea raised an incredulous eyebrow, “What kind of ridiculous meat grinder you’re planning on running us through?”

“Relax. She’s exaggerating.” Riku chuckled, causing Lea to let out a sigh of relief.

Kairi smothered her laughter behind her hand.

Riku waited a moment before letting a smug smirk stretch across his face, adding, “But also she’s not, not really.”

Kairi threw her head back as she started laughing uncontrollably, and Lea threw his hands in the air, giving up on getting a straight answer from them.

.

It didn’t take much to persuade Lea to agree to the detour to Olympus, thankfully, and the three settled for the night, going to sleep in their tents to be rested for the next day.

The trip back to the Mysterious Tower was quiet, but not silent, as Riku flew the ship while Kairi and Lea chattered in the background about their Keyblades, and what else they wanted to learn to do using them. It was enough to put a small smile on Riku’s face all the way to the Tower despite the circumstances of their situation.

Even if it made him feel Sora’s absence more strongly, with a constant stream of thoughts about how Sora should be here, how Sora should be able to participate, how Sora’s voice should be among the comfortable background conversations.

Their report to Yen Sid was uneventful, even bringing up their plans to drop by Olympus was only met with an accepting nod.

Master Yen Sid didn’t speak until after the three were about to leave the study.

“Before you head out, the good fairies left something for you.” With a wave of Yen Sid’s hand, three suitcases in varying sizes and colors poofed into existence on his desk, “Special garments to protect you from the Darkness.”

Each of the three grabbed the suitcase that sat in front of them. Kairi crouched down, setting her suitcase on her knees and opening it, “Does it include shorts? Once I have shorts it’s over for you two. I’ll be unstoppable.” She rummaged among the fabric before pulling an article of clothes from under what appeared to be a pink dress, “ _It does!_ ” She whispered in glee before returning the piece of clothing back and closing the suitcase. She then stood up and stared back at them all coolly as if nothing happened.

Riku bit back a chuckle.

The door to the study opened in that moment, and Mickey, Donald, and Goofy stepped through.

“Oh, hey! You’re back!” Mickey said, “How did your trip go?”

Riku shook his head, “We didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.”

“And Sora?” Goofy asked, worry clear on his face.

Kairi smiled sadly at him, “No trace of Sora, either. Sorry.”

Goofy approached her and patted her on the back, “It’s okay. I’m sure you’ll find something eventually. You and Riku, there is absolutely no way Sora could keep away from you two.” He nodded, confident in his words.

The sadness slipped away from Kairi’s smile as it widened, and Riku fought a blush that threatened to rise to his cheeks.

“So we have Sora Lures, huh?” Lea grinned cheekily at them, and Riku lost the fight, blood rushing to his cheeks. Kairi patted him on the back.

Riku cleared his throat loudly, “Mickey, how did your search for Aqua go?”

Mickey’s ears drooped, “I followed her Heart up until we ended up on a shore, but that was where her trail ended. We were then attacked, and had to return. Speaking of which.” Mickey turned towards Yen Sid, “We need to get our weapons upgraded, they were severely damaged in the Realm of Darkness. We got hit pretty hard.”

“Wait! Why would you need to go to the Realm of Darkness?” Riku frowned, worried.

Mickey sighed, shoulders drooping, “That’s where Aqua is.”

“She’s in the _Realm of Darkness_?” Kairi looked bewildered.

“Don’t worry! We’ll find her!” Mickey rushed to comfort her and Riku.

“Yeah!” Donald nodded, puffing his chest out, “Realm of Darkness or not, it’s not going to stand in our way!”

“Yes,” Yen Sid added, “Mickey, Donald, and Goofy have the search for Master Aqua covered. Riku, you, Kairi, and Lea have your own task to focus on. Of course, should you come across any clues concerning the whereabouts of Ventus and Terra, it would be much appreciated.”

Taking it as their dismissal, the three stood straight and nodded before leaving the study, searching the Tower for rooms they could change their clothes in before heading out.

They managed to find what looked like a floor dedicated to bedrooms with attached bathrooms, and entered the first rooms they found. The room Riku picked happened to be between the rooms Kairi and Lea picked, which helped him relax more than it bothered him, as he could hear them move about the rooms they occupied, the sounds acting as familiar background noise he got used to in the days he spent traveling with them.

Lea was finished first, leaving his room before calling out to them from the corridor, “Hey, Riku, Kairi, I’m heading to town for a bit, won’t be long!”

“Yeah, sure!”

“Okay, gotcha!”

Minutes after Lea had left, Riku finished changing his clothes and left his room to stand leaning against the wall next to the door to Kairi’s room.

“Hey, Kairi? Are you done or not?”

“I need a few minutes more or so I guess? What is it?”

“I just wanted to talk to you after you’re done. You don’t need to rush.”

“What about?”

“Wanted to ask you about what you and Lea talked about before we left. You don’t have to tell me if it was personal.”

“Nah, it’s fine. He apologized for kidnapping me, and for not being able to save Sora.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah…”

“What did you say to him?”

“I told him I forgive him.”

“You… do?”

“Yeah.” Kairi’s voice got closer as she opened the door and invited him in before going back inside and picking up her old clothes to put into the suitcase. She wore a pink and black dress with a hood, and a pair of black boots, she had also cut her hair. “I thought about it and, well, all he wanted was to get his best friend back. I know how that feels all too well. And now his friend got taken from him again. Roxas is inside of Sora, and by failing to save Sora, he failed to save Roxas. I can’t really blame him when I’m half convinced I probably would have done the same if our positions were reversed.”

She placed the last article of clothes inside the suitcase and closed it with a sharp snap before she started walking towards Riku, stopping when she stood close to him. She raised her head to look at him directly, her gaze serious, “I have an apology of my own. Riku, I’m sorry.”

Riku blinked at her, confused, “Sorry for what?”

“I’m sorry for the way I treated you when we were younger. It wasn’t fair of me to start excluding you when hanging out with Sora, to start pushing you away, treating you like you weren’t my friend. I’m very, very sorry. You don’t have to forgive me-”

“Kairi. I was horrible back then.”

“That’s not an excuse for how I treated you!”

“I did a lot of horrible things-”

“And you spent a long time repenting for it! You proved yourself more than enough to compensate for what you did. But you’re still blaming yourself! Even when we went to check on the Princesses, you didn’t come with us. I can make a good guess why.” Kairi placed her hands on her hips, a frown on her face.

Riku sighed, “Okay. I guess we should just. Agree to put it behind us, then?”

Kairi’s frown deepened before she sighed and let her hands drop to her sides, “Alright…”

“Hey, I hope you two didn’t kill each other in there!” Lea called out to them from the staircase, “You may not be shouting but that doesn’t exactly comfort me!”

Kairi rolled her eyes as she went to meet up with him, Riku choosing to follow behind her, “Nah,” Kairi said, waving a hand dismissively, “Riku is too nice for that.”

Riku sighed.

Lea grinned cheekily at them as he waited for them by the stairs, still wearing the Organization cloak.

He’d brought sea-salt ice cream with him.

“Here.” He extended a hand holding two bars of ice cream towards Kairi and Riku, who accepted the treat, nodding their heads in thanks, “To celebrate our progress in training, and enjoy our last meal before we are squished by those creepy wiggly stuff at the coliseum.”

Riku and Kairi snorted before taking a bite of the ice cream.

Kairi flinched back slightly, “It’s… salty? And sweet? Huh…” She took another bite and savored it in her mouth with a thoughtful expression on her face. “It’s strange. This seems almost familiar…”

“Oh, right!” Lea snapped his fingers, “You’re originally from Radiant Garden, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with the ice cream?” Kairi tilted her head inquisitively.

“Well, there was this guy who used to sell it in Radiant Garden before, well. Before.”

“Huh.” Kairi took another bite, closing her eyes as she returned to eating the ice cream as if every bite gave her answers about the universe.

A few moments of silence passed before she snapped her eyes open and pinned Lea with an intense stare, “You’ve been to Radiant Garden before it became Hollow Bastion?”

“Well, yeah.” Lea shrugged, “I’m originally from Radiant Garden.”

Kairi gaped at him. Riku didn’t blame her, he was sure he would be gaping too if he didn’t have his mouth stuffed with ice cream at the moment.

Noticing their stares, Lea frowned in confusion, “What?”

Kairi reached out with her unoccupied hand to grab Lea’s wrist tightly, “You’re going to tell me _everything_ you remember about Radiant Garden.”

.

Riku walked through the Keyblade Graveyard, yellow eyes flitting around to take in the place. Honestly, it was boring; it was dirt and rocks and ancient Keyblades _everywhere_ , nothing overly interesting or exciting. So much for the lair of a mastermind who was plotting the end of the world. At least Maleficent had the castle at Hollow Bastion.

(He refused to think about Castle Oblivion.)

But somewhere within the monotone landscape hid a ‘weirdo sentient armor with a grudge that likes to attack anything that moves apparently’ if Demyx was to be believed, and Riku was interested in finding this armor and challenging it to a fight. It was the only form of entertainment he could probably find outside of finding a different world to terrorize.

Riku’s ears picked up the sound of footsteps not his own, and he immediately focused on the direction it came from, right around the bend of tall, rocky spire,, wondering if he found the armor, or the armor found him, or if it was just another member of the Organization.

And then Sora stepped into view.

He looked older than the Sora in Riku’s memory, sporting different clothes, silver hair, and yellow eyes, but he was _definitely_ Sora.

Sora’s eyes widened when they landed on him.

“Sora,” Riku said coolly, refusing to let any emotion show on his face, because he absolutely did not notice that Sora looked nice. Nope. Not at all.

“Riku!” Sora grinned widely and lunged quickly, managing to trap Riku in a crushing hug. When did Sora get so fast? And strong? Because that grip, while tight, was actually pretty nice, and Riku even had his face pressed into Sora’s neck, with Sora’s crown necklace settling neatly in the dip between his collarbones, and glinting mere inches in front of Riku.

Riku could even feel Sora’s heartbeat through his chest and it was pretty distracting-

Wait. Nope. _Nuh-uh_. Not thinking about that. He was definitely _not_ thinking about that.

Riku pushed out of Sora’s embrac- death grip. Sora’s _death grip_. And snarled at him, “ _What do you want?_ ”

Sora pouted, and Riku did not look at his lips, he had _self-control_ dammit, “Can’t I hug a friend?” Sora whined, crossing his arms in front of his chest. The very arms Riku just had around him, the very chest Riku was pressed against-

_Ahem._

“ _Sora_ ,” Riku ground out through gritted teeth, “ _What. Do. You. Want_.”

Sora tapped his chin thoughtfully before grinning widely and reaching into his pocket to pull out a rectangular, bright red item that Riku didn’t recognize.

“See, I was just in this world that I visited after I had to pull Luxord from the Caribbean because he’s been bothering Jack again, it’s called San Fransokyo, and I’m pretty sure you’d like it, so I was thinking I could take you there to see the sights! I even got this phone thingy that can take pictures so we can immortalize the fun times!”

Riku tensed and got ready to bolt, but then Sora clamped a hand down on his arm and grinned even more widely, eyes glinting mischievously, “ _Riku_ ,” He cooed, Riku would have blushed at the tone if he wasn’t certain his dignity was about to take a brutal beating, “Where are you going? Are you running away from me?” Sora gasped dramatically, “We can’t have that!”

Without any warning, Sora opened a Corridor of Darkness and skipped through it, dragging Riku with him.

.

The conversation about Radiant Garden continued even after they finished eating their ice cream, left the Tower, and boarded the ship. Riku was taking off when Kairi and Lea reached a lull in their talk.

“Do any of you know the way to Olympus?” Kairi asked. Lea shrugged.

“Actually I was thinking of asking Chip and Dale for the coordinates, they probably know it since Sora visited many times before,” Riku said. Kairi stood from her seat and walked over to him.

“Which button did Donald say got into call with Chip and Dale?” Kairi wondered, looking over the console.

Riku reached a hand and pressed the button she asked about, “This one.”

“Riku, Kairi!” Chip greeted them cheerfully, “How’s it going?”

“We’re doing fine.” Kairi smiled, “How about you two?”

Riku left Kairi to handle the conversation and focused on navigating the ship to leave the world they were currently in. Minutes later, he noticed the map screen light up and a yellow dot flash on screen.

“That should be Olympus,” Kairi said, “Thank you, Chip, Dale!”

“You’re welcome! Don’t forget to call us whenever you need any more help!”

.

Kairi and Lea got out of their seats to stand next to Riku to watch as the ship approached Olympus, just like every time they went to a new world. Watching a world come into view as they approached it by ship, details becoming clearer the closer they flew, was still as awe-inspiring as the first time. It was a completely different experience from going into Corridors of Darkness and then walking out into a different location.

“And where is that coliseum?” Lea squinted as he leaned forward and started scrutinizing the world ahead of them.

“Um, is that smoke?” Kairi pointed, “And fire? Is that normal?”

Riku frowned, “Not sure, we should probably land and check. The Organization might be lurking, or maybe the world is being attacked by the Heartless.”

As the ship got close enough to be able to find a location to land, Riku searched for an out of the way spot near the town where the fires were concentrated, and ended up landing the Gummiship among the mountains. The area he found was open to the sky, but enclosed between the mountains, there was a statue but the area didn’t seem to be frequented.

He, Lea, and Kairi double checked their supplies and left the ship to start the trek down the mountain. They were faced by groups of Heartless as they descended, and their worry that something was wrong increased.

They quickly made their way to the town, rushing through the entrance and into what was most likely the town’s main square where they spotted a tall, muscular man squaring off against a group of Heartless. The three made their way towards him, and between the four of them, they defeated the Heartless quickly, Riku using ice magic to keep the Heartless in place while the rest of the party whaled on them.

“You okay?” Riku turned towards the man, who grinned at him tiredly.

“Yeah, thanks! You’ve been a great help!” The man’s expression turned thoughtful as his gaze dropped towards Way to the Dawn before moving onto Lea and Kairi, no doubt checking their Keyblades as well, “Interesting weapons you got there. You wouldn’t happen to be friends of Sora, would you?”

Kairi grinned brightly, “Yep! And you know Sora! You must be Hercules?”

The man, Hercules, nodded, grin returning to his face. Kairi continued enthusiastically, “I’m Kairi! This is Riku, and this is Lea!”

“Oh! The friends Sora was looking for every time I saw him.”

Riku nodded, slightly bashful, “And he found us.”

Hercules looked at Lea in curiosity, “I’m sorry, but I haven’t heard about you before.”

Lea shrugged, grinning easily, “I’m new to the group.”

“I see.”

“What happened here?” Riku asked, gesturing vaguely around the square.

Hercules grimaced, “Hades happened.”

Riku frowned at the name, remembering Hades from his time working with Maleficent.

“Sorry, but I gotta go, have to check if there are people in the city in need of help.”

“We’ll go with you!” Kairi volunteered, then sent a pleading gaze Riku’s way, “We can, right?”

“Yeah, sure.” Riku nodded. Lea shrugged again.

“This is the hero team gig after all, isn’t it?” Lea responded, an amused grin playing on his lips.

.

They had been searching through the city for about ten minutes before Hercules finally asked them.

“Sora didn’t come with you?”

“No.” Kairi sighed, “It’s. I don’t know how much you know…”

Hercules made an understanding noise, “Lots of people from different worlds pass through to test themselves at the Coliseum, and Sora said some things about an Organization. Said to be on the lookout for anyone suspicious wearing long black coats.” Hercules sent an inquisitive look Lea’s way.

“Used to be part of them, ditched, and switched teams. They didn’t exactly inspire complete trust in all of their members.”

“I see.”

“The Organization tried to do something to Sora, to make him one of them, but something happened and he disappeared,” Kairi said, biting her lower lip, pausing to look under a space created by a fallen pillar that someone of a small size could use to hide before continuing when she didn’t find anyone, “And now he’s somewhere out there. We’re looking for him.”

“I hope you find him.” Hercules patted her on the back, and she smiled up at him.

“I know Sora can take care of himself but…” She fiddled with the charm at the end of her keychain, gaze distant.

“Sora does better when he has the company of friends.” Hercules nodded.

.

They finished their search through the square in silence, busy looking for people, and defeating any Heartless that appeared. Hercules then led the three of them through a path out of the square, no doubt heading to other parts of the city to continue the search.

“I know we said we’re looking for Sora,” Lea started, “But we’re also kinda looking for other people. Other Keyblade wielders. One of them is named Ventus, the other Terra.”

“They probably passed through around ten years ago, if they did pass through,” Riku added, “Though they may have popped up through the years. We just know they went missing around ten years ago.”

Hercules held his chin in thought, “Now that you mention it, I think I remember a Ventus from around then, he asked to be called Ven though. He reminds me of Sora, now that I think about it.” Hercules smiled wistfully, “Haven’t seen him since then, though. I don’t know about a Terra, I have the feeling I heard the name but I’m not sure if they were a Keyblade wielder or someone else. Sorry, I can’t be much of a help.”

Riku shook his head, “It’s alright. Thanks for telling us what you know.”

Kairi grinned, “Once we find Ventus, maybe we could ask him to come visit! I have the feeling he wouldn’t mind meeting you again.”

.

San Fransokyo did not sleep at night, street and building lights glowing, billboards shining, people still milling around and chatting, and superheroes standing atop buildings keeping an eye out for any trouble.

Within the hustle and bustle of this nightlife, two people zipped through the air from building to building, surrounded by blue light.

One of them cackled while the other screeched, “ _SORA YOU MADMAN!_ ”

.

Riku, Kairi, and Lea finished helping Hercules scour through the city, and then ventured out into the mountains with the goal of heading towards where Hercules suspected Hades, the source of the trouble, would be.

Their climb was interrupted with great flashes of lightning streaking through the clear sky.

“No!” Hercules looked at the sky in worry, “My family is in trouble!” He lifted his fingers towards his lips and whistled sharply. He turned towards the three, “Sorry, I gotta go right now and as quickly as I can, my family needs me.” A winged horse descended from the sky and landed next to Hercules, who climbed on its back.

Riku nodded in understanding, “We’ll catch up to you.”

Hercules grinned at them in thanks, “Climb to the top of the mountain, you’ll find the entrance to Olympus there.” With that said, he and his horse took to the skies.

“Alright, let’s go!” Lea pumped his fist into the air.

“Hey, think we can use the ship to reach the top?” Kairi asked, “We don’t know how far up it actually is.”

Riku hummed thoughtfully, weighing the pros and cons of the idea before he shrugged, “Sure, why not.”

The trip back to the ship was short, and their flight smooth, especially since none of the Heartless currently in the world was strong enough to stand a chance against the ship’s weapons.

And then they got close to the top of the mountain.

“That’s big,” Kairi said, eyes wide and fists clenched as she stared at the giant creature standing at the edge of a cliff in the mountain, she then turned to look at the shocked Lea, “Remember what I told you about enemies big enough to squash you underfoot?”

“I told you she wasn’t exaggerating,” Riku said blandly.

“Man am I glad we decided to take the Gummiship…” Lea groaned.

That was when the giant noticed them, and raised its hands in the air. Riku tensed, waiting for it to attack them, but the giant didn’t throw anything at them, no weapons, or magic, or even itself.

“Above us!” Kairi shouted.

Riku snapped his head up to see a group of giant rocks falling down on top of them, and he jerked the controls in his hands, swerving sharply with the ship sideways before boosting, causing them to head straight towards the giant. Kairi and Lea screamed.

Riku jerked the ship to the side again, sharply turning it around in a circle.

“You could have warned us!” Lea shouted.

“That giant is raining rocks down on us! I think that’s warning enough!” Riku shouted back at him, shoulders tense, stare focused on the giant.

The giant moved its hands again, and Riku chanced a look above them. Sure enough, rocks formed in the sky and started dropping down on them.

“Heads up!” He said before he maneuvered the ship out of the way.

Kairi and Lea stumbled out of their chairs to stand next to him, one of them on each side, and both clutched his seat for balance.

“ _Shoot button! Where’s the shoot button!_ ” Kairi shouted, clearly in hysterics by now.

“ _I don’t know!_ ” Riku nearly snapped back at her, panicking along with her.

Lea hurriedly reached for the communication button, intending to call Chip and Dale, but he lost his balance when Riku had to quickly move the ship out of the way of a third wave of falling rocks, and ended up slamming down on the boost button.

The ship rushed forward in the direction of the giant, and only Riku’s quick reflexes saved them from potential death via crashing as he hit the brakes. Hard.

The ship came to a complete stop a meter away from the giant, and the momentum caused Kairi and Lea to fall forward and hit the steering controls, which caused the ship to tilt down sharply until it hung suspended in the air, vertically upside down.

There was a moment of complete stillness as everyone processed the situation (even the giant seemed shocked at the turn of events, freezing in place momentarily and staring at them with expressionless eyes), and then Riku snapped out of his shock and yanked on the controls, causing the ship to tilt back until it reversed its previous position.

Kairi and Lea went flying past him, slamming into the back and groaning at the impact.

“Hold onto your seats!” Was Riku’s only warning before he flew the ship up, launching into half a circle turn in the sky to get away from the giant and use the opportunity to right the ship’s position.

He paused for a moment, ship hovering in the air, and stared thoughtfully at the giant that seemed to regain its senses and get ready to attack again.

“You two better get on your seats and put your seatbelts on!” Riku slammed his hand on the communication button, impatiently tapping his foot on the floor as he waited for the call to connect.

“Riku- What’s wrong?!”

“ _Where is the goddamn shoot button._ ”

.

Riku landed the ship next to a stairway leading up to gleaming, golden gates. Lea and Kairi immediately bolted out of their seats and stumbled out of the ship, Riku trailing after them.

The three then collapsed on the cloud-like soft ground outside.

“ _Never again_ ,” They groaned in unison.

.

Riku scowled as he trudged through the Keyblade Graveyard, having escaped quickly via Corridor of Darkness the moment Sora got distracted with new friends. He growled.

_New friends_.

Of course Sora had to go and get new friends and ditch Riku again, what else was new?

“ _Riku!_ ” Sora whined from behind him, jogging until he reached Riku, and then turning around so that he could walk and look at Riku at the same time, “Why did you go?” Sora pouted.

Riku jerked his head to the side, refusing to look at the expression Sora made, with his lower lip jutting out adorably like that.

“You found new friends, I saw I wasn’t wanted, and I left,” Riku responded coldly, crossing his arms.

Sora’s pout intensified. No, Riku wasn’t looking, _duh_. He _totally_ wasn’t looking.

“But Riku! I always want you around! You’re my friend too!” Sora flung himself at Riku again, and Riku dodged, barely missing being trapped within Sora’s arms again. Sora sent him a kicked puppy look, and Riku wavered, his crossed arms loosening slightly.

“Just because I found new friends doesn’t mean you’re any less my friend!”

“I’m not even the Riku you know!” Riku snapped, and Sora blinked at him, stunned. “I’m just a fake copy! I’m not the Riku who is your friend!” He uncrossed his arms and clenched his fists.

“Riku.” Sora sent him a sad look. Fuck. Abort. _Abort_. **_Abort_**. “But you’re still a Riku who is my friend even if you are a different Riku.”

Riku threw his hands in the air, frustrated, and the urge to draw Soul Eater and throw himself at Sora for a fight intensified, “How do you keep saying bullshit like this? Is it a joke to you?!”

Sora placed his fists on his hips and frowned, “Of course not! Why would it-”

“If you two are done.”

Sora and Riku turned towards the speaker to see Saïx staring at them coolly, unimpressed eyebrow raised.

“Sora, I have a task for you,” Saïx said.

“ _A task?_ ” Sora repeated, incredulous, “Wow, after the bullshit you guys pulled during my exam you still have the guts to give me tasks? Seriously, what even goes on in your heads when you plan these things? Sheesh.”

“Now that you’re made your feelings on the matter known, let’s move on to business.” Saïx waved a hand dismissively, “Marluxia found one of the new Seven Hearts of Pure Light.”

“ _Marluxia_ did?” Sora looked ready to march towards wherever Marluxia was and reintroduce him to the concept of perishing. “And who was the smart guy who put Marluxia in charge of something like _that_?” Sora turned towards Riku and jabbed a finger in his direction, “Our conversation is not done, mister, we’re picking it up after I get Marluxia away from whichever poor soul is stuck with him stalking her.” With that declaration, Sora turned around, his Keyblade appearing in his hand in a flash of light, “ _Now where is that guy_ ,” He muttered to himself as a Corridor of Darkness appeared in front of him and he stalked through it.

Silence stretched for a moment.

Riku turned slowly towards Saïx, “And he’s gone? Just like that? Without any information about where Marluxia and this new Heart of Pure Light would be?”

Saïx smirked slightly, “Why, are you underestimating him?”

Riku scowled, “It’s basics, you send someone to do something somewhere, you tell them where they’re supposed to go.”

Saïx chuckled lowly, “But Sora isn’t just anyone, is he? He certainly has the knack to follow his Heart places to miraculously be wherever he’s needed at just the right moment.” With that said, Saïx turned around, summoning a Corridor of Darkness and disappearing into it.

Riku growled, Soul Eater slipping into his hand, and started walking without a direction, feet falling on the ground in harsh stomps.

The mysterious sentient armor that fought anything that moved sounded tempting in that moment.

.

Flynn rushed through the forest, the strange creatures that suddenly popped up recently chasing after him. He passed by a boy with white hair and yellow eyes, and dove into a nearby bush.

He peeked out and saw the boy look between him and the creatures with slight curiosity. Then, a giant key appeared in his hand in a flash of light. The boy grinned and waved, “I got them! You go find someplace safe!”

Well… Flynn wasn’t about to turn down such a tempting offer.

.

After passing through the golden gates, and taking down the Heartless that met them in the open area the gates led to, Riku, Kairi, and Lea turned towards each other.

“So, where do we go from here?” Kairi wondered, stretching her arms above her head.

“Do we look through the place or…” Lea frowned as he looked around, making notes of all entrances in the area. Gaze switching between a corridor ahead, and the suspended bridge high in the air above them.

Just then, lightning flashed harshly in the sky, and Riku sighed.

“Okay, so maybe pick a path and hope we find our way to a good vantage point?”

“Sounds good to me,” Lea said.

“Climbing again, huh?” Kairi said as the three started walking towards the corridor, “Guess it’s better than using the Gummiship. Don’t know what other giant enemies we’d stumble upon…”

“Kairi, please don’t jinx us,” Riku pleaded.

.

“Kairi, you jinxed us,” Riku deadpanned.

“Hey! This is _so_ not my fault!” She complained.

The three had made their way through the area, climbed to the highest vantage point they could find; only to find out it was the spot of the main clash. Hercules also made it there at the same time as them.

What awaited them was not a single giant (Titan, Hercules had called the being), not two, but _three_. And one of them was a literal tornado.

“At least we’re not inside the Gummiship?” Lea offered.

Riku made a face at him.

“At least there are four of us?” Kairi said.

Hercules nodded, “And once I get my dad out, there’ll be five!”

“I guess it’s not a completely miserable situation,” Riku said blandly.

“Lea and I will take the ice one!” Kairi offered. Lea nodded.

Riku sighed, “Alright. I’ll take the lava one. Hercules?”

“I’ll go with you, Riku.”

“Thanks. Kairi, Lea, you have your supplies?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” Lea and Kairi mock saluted before turning towards the Ice Titan, an unholy gleam in their eyes, a mad grin on their faces, and a strong fire burning merrily along their Keyblades.

Riku frankly didn’t want to know.

‘ _At least we’re not inside the Gummiship?_ ’ Lea had said earlier, and now that he was engaging the Lava Titan in combat with Hercules backing him up, he could definitely agree. This was something he was more used to, and it didn’t take long for him to fall into a rhythm of flinging Blizzaras (and one Balloonra he fervently hoped Kairi didn’t notice; he needed the water magic Balloon spells inherently contained. Desperate times called for desperate measures and all that), while Hercules tore chunks out of the rocky spire his father was sealed inside of, and then flung them at the Titan.

He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Lea and Kairi had stood close to each other, bringing their Keyblades together, and casting fire magic strong enough to shoot in a concentrated stream of fire to mercilessly blast the Ice Titan, who was quickly wearing down fast.

Fast enough, in fact, that by the time Riku and Hercules managed to knock down the Lava Titan and release Hercules’ father, Lea and Kairi had managed to knock down the Ice Titan, and were already blasting away at the Tornado Titan.

“What have we unleashed?” Riku muttered to himself, staring at the two with muted horror.

Hercules chuckled breathlessly and patted him on the shoulder.

Then, Hercules’ father called lightning to his hands and started flinging it at the Titans, who rushed to retreat.

Lea and Kairi stumbled up to him, breathless, legs trembling, but with wide, delirious grins on their faces.

“We had to use up all of our Ethers but it was so worth it.” Kairi giggled.

“Fire is always worth it,” Lea added, patting her on the shoulder. She stumbled and fell into his side, and he wrapped an arm around her to steady her.

“We should name it,” Kairi said.

“How about the Fiery Beam of Doom?”

“ _No_.”

“Aw, c’mon, Riku!”

.

Riku, Kairi, and Lea spent the night in the city, Thebes, before they left the next morning to continue on their journey, saying goodbye to Hercules and promising him to visit again, hopefully with Sora and Ventus accompanying them next time.

“You know,” Kairi started as she climbed into the Gummiship, “If yesterday is what Sora usually gets into on a regular basis, then I both understand and don’t understand why he loves it so much.” She called onto her Keyblade and swung it lightly around her, “On one hand, meeting new people, making new friends, and helping others, absolutely feel great. The experience also teaches me new things. Look, I figured out how to cast Firaga by myself just yesterday!” To demonstrate, she held her Keyblade in both hands, its tip raised up, with a bigger flame than usual burning merrily on it. Lea puffed his chest out in pride. “On the other hand-” Kairi let the flame dissipate and then dismissed her Keyblade, “-it’s completely exhausting. Even after a full night’s sleep, I still feel sore all over.”

Lea patted her on the head, “This is the point where we say something about it being worth it for helping our new friends, just like a good band of heroes does, eh?” He grinned mischievously at her, and she playfully swatted his hand away.

A chuckle escaped Riku, “Maybe.” He sighed, still feeling the aches of the past day, but ignoring them after all the experience he had running around with his body in worse states. His wrist and hip on the left side of his body throbbed with pain at the reminder. Carefully breathing through the pain through ease of practice, he moved towards his seat.

The three of them settled in their seats quietly, and Riku launched the ship into the air. Not too long afterwards, they exited the world.

“Well, where to next?” Riku wondered, letting the ship hover in place.

“What?” Lea asked, “You mean to tell me they don’t give you experienced Keyblade wielders a manual on how to get to where you need to be without getting lost even if you don’t know where that place is?” He raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “How did Sora do it, then? Just fly at random and somehow find himself at the right place at the right time?”

Silence.

“Well…” Kairi hummed in thought, “Maybe Sora just followed his Heart?”

“Followed his Heart?” Lea repeated, curious.

“Yeah, like, maybe.” She closed her eyes, “Wherever he felt was the right way!” She rose from her seat, dramatically sweeping her arms, summoning her Keyblade with a flourish and brandishing it at the dome of the cockpit, “If his Heart told him to go left, he went left, if it told him to go right, he went right!” She dismissed her Keyblade and sat down, opening her eyes to grin at Riku, “Maybe you should try it out, Riku! Just think of Sora, and he’ll show you the way!”

“He’s Sora, not god.” Lea snorted, amused.

Riku chuckled, “He may or may not be god-” Riku ignored Lea’s horrified exclamation at his words, “-but he’s definitely our guiding light.” He smiled softly, summoned his Keyblade and closed his eyes in concentration; holding Way to the Dawn in both hands and aiming it in front of him, he thought of Sora.

_Sora_ , and his enthusiasm, and cheer, _Sora_ , and the melody of two Hearts connected together.

_Sora_ , and the beat of his Heart echoed strongly in his chest, and he allowed himself to think it imitated the song.

“Well, well, well, what do you know…” Riku heard Lea say, surprise coloring his voice.

“Riku!” Kairi called to him, the sounds of her footsteps approaching him, “Riku! It worked!”

Riku opened his eyes, his gaze following Kairi’s raised hand pointing in front of them.

There, outside the ship, a portal had opened.

“You know what?” Lea threw his hands in the air, “I am never going to question this ‘follow your Heart’ thing ever again.”

Riku grinned wildly and dismissed his Keyblade, taking a hold of the controls again. Kairi returned to her seat, and Riku flew the ship through the portal.

The change in scenery was staggering.

It was daytime, and a town laid sprawled next to a sea, located right next to a great forest. Riku flew towards the forest, eyes scouting for a landing spot, Lea and Kairi out of their seats and helping him look.

It didn’t take long before Lea spotted an outcropping of rocks big enough to hide the ship. It took some maneuvering, but eventually they landed without too much of a ruckus.

Double-checking on their supplies, they left the ship and headed in the direction of the town. On their way, they passed through a clearing of wildflowers, and had to stop for a few minutes because Kairi insisted on picking some flowers to put into their hair.

“C’mon, it’s a little celebratory decoration!” She’d said.

(“To Lea, for your first hero gig! You get a flower! To Riku, for your Heart guiding us to this beautiful place! You get a flower! To me, for Firaga! I get a flower! I hereby dub us, the Flower Trio!”)

.

When they finally reached the town, they were met with colorful decorations and the sound of music and laughter.

“Think they’re having a festival?” Riku wondered.

“Seems so,” Lea said, “Wonder what they’re celebrating.”

“A lot of people seem to be busy there.” Kairi pointed ahead of them, towards the square visible through an archway, where people appeared to be dancing, “Let’s go check it out.” She ran ahead, Lea and Riku trailing after her.

She let out a stunned gasp the moment she reached the square, and then she slipped through the crowds, disappearing from view. Riku and Lea shared a concerned look, and hurried through the archway, trying their best to slip through the throng of people. It took them a while to get through, and when they finally did, they were grabbed and pulled into the dance.

Riku blinked in shock as he saw Kairi holding his hands and pulling him along with her to dance, her eyes sparkling in excitement, and her grin the widest and happiest he’d seen her since he and Sora left to take the Mark of Mastery exam; she almost seemed to shine.

“Kairi?”

Instead of explaining what was going on, she let out a peal of laughter, and twirled them around among the other dancing pairs.

And then he heard the sound of a painfully familiar laughter. Kairi’s grin widened and she tilted her head in the direction of the sound. Riku followed the direction with his eyes, and his gaze landed on Sora, dressed in the same clothes he’d worn since he woke up from his long year of sleep, hair white, eyes yellow, wide grin stretched across his face as he pulled a shocked Lea along with him in his dance.

“ _Oh_.” Riku let out a great exhale, shoulders slumping, as if a great weight fell off of them.

Kairi’s happiness made so much sense now.

Kairi then tugged him to move closer towards Sora and Lea, who also moved closer to them, and the next thing Riku knew, Kairi had let go of his arms, and suddenly Sora was there. He vaguely noted Kairi whisking Lea off into their own dance, but then all thoughts of Kairi and Lea left his mind as Sora let out a happy laugh.

“Riku!” Sora said, putting so much affection into one word Riku felt like he was about to explode. Sora looked so happy, dancing with Lea, dancing with Riku, and Riku felt all the questions he wanted to ask about where Sora had disappeared off to, what he did since Riku last saw him, how he was, what he was feeling, just disappear from his mind, leaving behind nothing but the simple desire to live in the now, and enjoy every single moment.

After few minutes of dancing, Sora and Riku moved towards Lea and Kairi for another switch, Riku taking Lea from Kairi as she took Sora, and pulling away for their own dance.

Lea didn’t look like he recovered from his shock yet, “You people are crazy,” He said.

Riku simply laughed at him, and Lea let out an offended sound.

.

The dance continued for a while longer, and the four of them switched their partners around a few more times, even ending up dancing with the world’s residents.

After the music stopped, a man called out, “To the boats!” And the townsfolk hurried out of the square. Sora gestured for them to follow along.

“C’mon, guys! This is going to be great!”

The three followed Sora towards the town’s wharf, where Sora walked towards the ends of one of the piers and sat down, his feet dangling over the edge. He patted the spots next to him; the three walked over to him and sat down next to him.

“I heard about it from Rapunzel and Flynn,” Sora gushed, “Every year on this day, the people of Corona light lanterns and release them into the air in the hopes the lost princess will see them and find her way back home.”

“That sounds amazing,” Kairi whispered, her gaze set towards the sky patiently waiting for the lanterns Sora mentioned. Riku couldn’t deny that it sounded exciting, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Sora and Kairi sitting next to each other, and next to him, content, and staring at the darkening sky. Even Lea was quiet, face set into a thoughtful expression. He’d sat down on Kairi’s other side, while Riku sat down on Sora’s other side.

As night settled down over the city, the first lanterns released into the sky shone with a warm glow, and then more and more followed, until a stream of orange lights cut through the sky.

Riku turned his head to the side to look at Sora and Kairi, observing the way their eyes sparkled in excitement as they watched the lanterns, entranced. Lea, meanwhile, was in the same boat as Riku, staring at the two sitting between them instead of watching the spectacle in the sky. But unlike Riku, his gaze was sad, almost looking through them instead of seeing them.

Whatever he saw must have shaken him, as tears started spilling from his eyes, not letting out a single sound.

Riku clenched his fists on his legs, feeling hopeless; it was a surprise, but Lea had grown on him, and he’d looked so sad at that moment, that Riku wanted to console him but didn’t know how.

Lea jerked his head to the side, reaching with his hands to his face to wipe away the tears.

In unison, Sora and Kairi tilted their heads towards him.

“Lea,” Kairi said, at the same time Sora said, “Axel.”

Lea inhaled deeply, and then straightened. He looked back at them with a weak grin, “Call me Axel from now on. Got it memorized?” As he tapped his finger on his temple to emphasize his words, his eyes lingered briefly on Riku, and Riku nodded, understanding that Lea- no, that Axel, included him as well.

.

They didn’t know how long they spent watching the lanterns before they were interrupted by someone who approached them from behind.

“Sora,” A smooth voice spoke, “Slacking on the job, I see. I am not surprised.”

Axel’s head snapped towards the voice, a frown on his face before he smoothed it into a blank expression, “Marluxia.”

Sora threw his hands in the air, “Marluxia, _ugh_.” He groaned.

Between them, Kairi twitched, her hands curling into fists, and shoulders hunching up. She was surprised and scared. Riku looked at her face to see terror written all over. He was stunned, as this was the most scared he’d seen her in a very long while.

(The expression haunted him, reminding him of a similar face, framed with blonde hair, and for a moment, he saw Namine sitting where Kairi was.)

Sora and Axel rose to their feet, Sora approaching this mysterious Marluxia, while Axel stopped a few feet ahead of Riku and Kairi on the pier, acting as a wall between Sora and Marluxia, and Riku and Kairi.

Riku stood as well, Kairi following after him, and hiding behind his back as he turned to face the direction Marluxia came from. It put their backs to the water, but they grew up on Destiny Islands, they could make a quick escape into the water and then sneak away if they needed.

Marluxia was an Organization member that Riku never saw before, he was absolutely certain of it since there was no way he would have forgotten someone with such distinct pink hair.

“‘Slacking on the job’ blah blah blah.” Sora propped his fists on his hips, “First, I’m not here on a job, I’m just here because you’re stalking Rapunzel. Second, I don’t take jobs from you.”

“Job, Marluxia?” Axel snorted, “Last time I saw you, you were plotting to overthrow Xemnas. What happened to suddenly become helpful to the Organization? Was it a _change of Heart_?” Axel’s tone grew mocking at the last words.

Marluxia simply smirked lightly, “So says Xemnas’ former assassin. What, done doing his dirty work?”

“What do you want, Marluxia?” Sora snapped, his voice echoing with others again, as if multiple people were speaking as one.

Marluxia returned his attention towards Sora, smirk still in place, “Sora, since you seem to care so much for Rapunzel, I wonder if you know where she is right now?”

“And I’m supposed to tell you?”

“I don’t need you for information. I was simply wondering if you’d bother checking on her, make sure something bad didn’t happen to her.”

“Why do you care?”

“Why, she’s one of the new Seven Hearts, and as a member of the Organization, her safety is important to us.” Marluxia’s smirk widened, “I have no reason to harm her. But there are others who might.” With that said, Marluxia turned around, and walked away calmly, summoning a Corridor of Darkness and stepping through it, leaving the four behind to think on his words.

The moment the Corridor disappeared, Riku turned to face Kairi, who had her hands clasped against her chest, and calming herself down.

“Kairi, what’s wrong?”

Kairi inhaled, “It wasn’t me. It was Namine. We’ll be okay. We were just surprised.”

“It’s okay to be surprised.” Riku placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and she smiled weakly at him, “It’s also okay to be scared.”

Kairi nodded gratefully at him.

“What do we do now?” Axel asked.

“I need to go look for Rapunzel and Flynn,” Sora said, tapping his foot against the ground, “I saw them go on a boat by themselves, but that was right after the dance ended.” Sora sighed.

“She’s one of the new Princesses, huh?” Kairi said, expression thoughtful, “We’ll help you look, Sora!”

Sora beamed at them, “Really? Thanks!”

Riku chuckled lightly, and Axel grinned, winding down after the confrontation with Marluxia, “So what do they look like?”

“You probably already noticed Rapunzel during the dance! She has this really, really long blonde hair and- OH! I have pictures!” Sora shoved a hand in his pocket and took out a red, rectangular object. It emitted a glow from its front when he pressed a button on its side, and he tapped on it a few times before walking closer to them and turning it to face them. There was a screen on the other side, a picture displayed on it, including Sora and two other people.

“This is Rapunzel, and this is Flynn.” He swiped at the screen with his fingers, and different pictures of the two passed through the screen.

“Handy device,” Axel commented, “Is it like a different version of a camera? What’s it called?”

“Oh, it’s a phone!” Sora said, grinning wildly.

“ _That’s_ a phone?!”

“It can do other things, too! I got it from San Fransokyo. But I have no idea how to get messages and calls to work between worlds.” Sora pouted. “Anyway! Rapunzel and Flynn! We should check around the shore and look around any boats that returned by now!”

.

They spent all night searching, but found no trace. It didn’t help that most people had already retired to their homes to sleep by then, so they didn’t have a lot of people to ask if they saw Rapunzel and Flynn.

It was around a couple of hours after sunrise that they heard a couple of people murmuring about an unconscious man they found drifting aimlessly in a boat all by himself. Sora easily interjected himself in the conversation, asking about where he could find this man. The two merchants who’d been talking about it pointed him in the direction of one of the houses. Sora thanked them and headed to the building, Riku, Kairi, and Lea following behind him.

They were in front of the door when it slammed open and Flynn stumbled out.

“Sora!” He cried out in relief when his eyes landed on Sora, “Did you see Rapunzel?”

“No. I’ve been looking for you two since last night. What happened?”

Flynn sighed, “There was this lady in a cloak, she ambushed me, and knocked me out.”

Sora frowned, “Rapunzel is tough, she can handle Heartless, so she could have fought this lady off. But that doesn’t explain why she disappeared.”

Flynn winced, “So. Uh.”

“ _Flynn_.”

“Rapunzel and I weren’t together when she ambushed me?” Flynn awkwardly shuffled his feet.

“Why- you know what, never mind. Can you tell me what the lady looked like? We could look for her.”

“Uh, I think she had a red dress, and a dark cloak with a hood, she had the hood on. I don’t remember much else since it was pretty dark and she got me quickly.”

Sora tapped his chin with a finger, “That sounds familiar but I’m not sure if it’s the same person…”

“One clue is better than nothing,” Riku said.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Sora smiled faintly, “That woman sounds like Rapunzel’s mother. I encountered her in the swamp on my way to meet up with you two, she was looking for Rapunzel.”

Flynn frowned, “So there is one place we could start looking.”

Sora nodded, “The tower. Maximus is still around, you can take him and get there ahead of us. We’ll catch up.”

Flynn nodded and rushed off, presumably to get Maximus. Sora turned back towards the three who’d been mostly silent throughout the conversation, “I hope you guys are stocked up because the path to the tower is infested with Heartless and Nobodies.”

Riku, Kairi, and Axel looked at each other and nodded. They silently agreed to not bring up the idea of taking the Gummiship to travel to the tower. They did _not_ need a repeat of the Rock Titan.

.

As they made their way through the forest, Riku, Kairi, and Axel were grateful that Sora took the lead, as the environment was ridiculously easy to get lost in with how everything blended together very well. Sora ducked around the Heartless and Nobodies to avoid confrontations that would only slow them down, freezing enemies in place with Blizzagas whenever he could to give the four of them the opportunity to slip away without chancing receiving a stray hit from any of the Heartless and Nobodies. Even blasting them away with wind if there were too many of them in one area. Riku decided to follow suit and throw his own Blizzagas into the mix to help ease the strain on Sora’s magic reserves.

It took them hours, and multiple breaks to drink water, rest a bit, and pass around an Ether or two, but eventually Sora led them through a curtain of leaves and into a long cave that led to an open area, enclosed on all sides by mountains. At the back, a lone tower stood.

A white horse rushed to them from the side.

“Maximus!” Sora greeted the horse, “Flynn is still up there?”

The horse neighed as if in agreement. Sora smiled at him, “You did a good job.” Sora patted him on the head, “We’ll go check out the tower, too!”

Maximus neighed again and nudged Sora’s cheek with his head.

“We’ll take care, Maximus, and we’ll make sure Rapunzel will be okay!” Sora’s smile widened into a grin as Maximus headbutted him.

Sora turned to Riku, Kairi, and Axel, “Let’s go, guys!”

As they got closer to the tower, they heard a scream; when they looked up, they saw a dark figure fall out of the window high up in the tower.

“What-!” Kairi started, shocked. Her words died in her mouth when the figure seemed to disappear, leaving behind a piece of cloth fluttering in the air.

Then, Darkness formed around the tower, twisting and encircling it before it climbed and started gathering around the spire at the top of it. The Darkness settled into a round shape with a trailing tail that wrapped around the tower, and then melted away, leaving behind a giant Heartless.

“Just what happened up there?” Riku wondered, summoning his Keyblade and settling into his stance. Next to him, the other three followed suit.

The Heartless stared at them with its yellow eyes, and then launched from its perch, heading straight for them.

Riku acted before he could think, “Huddle together!” He called out, and they reacted quickly, pushing themselves together into one cluster, and Riku pushed his empty hand out in front of them, his other still occupied with his Keyblade. He called forth a barrier big enough to cover all four of them. The tip of his Keyblade started to glow, ready to release the energy poured into the barrier into an outward shockwave the moment the Heartless collided with it.

And boy did the Heartless collide with it.

Riku gritted his teeth as the barrier almost rattled at the impact, and he pushed his energy into fortifying it so it wouldn’t break around them. He almost forgot to counter. Almost.

Sora pushed his Keyblade close to Riku’s, Kairi and Axel following his lead, each of the Keyblades glowed with the energy its wielder poured into it, joining with Riku’s energy.

Riku clenched his fist around the handle of his Keyblade, and released the energy of the barrier, channeling the energy given to him by the others into it, causing it to push the Heartless back a few meters.

The Heartless stopped in place, appearing stunned from the knock-back.

“Axel, let’s go!” Kairi called out, raising her Keyblade in front of her, its tip pointed at the Heartless.

Axel grinned widely and joined her, both unleashing their dreaded ‘Fiery Beam of Doom’.

Sora stared at the two, eyes sparkling, “ _This is so cool!_ ” He whispered.

In that moment, Riku wanted nothing more than to drop his face into his hands and groan.

The stream of fire sputtered out after a few minutes, leaving Kairi and Axel to search their pockets for Ethers with trembling hands.

“It’s on its last leg!” Sora said, “You guys did great! It’s my turn now!” With that said, Sora jumped into the air, Keyblade held in front of him, with a sphere of light indicative of Ragnarok forming at its end.

Streams of light shot out of the sphere, forcing the Kingdom Key back with the recoil, and sped with deadly accuracy towards the Heartless, colliding with it and dealing the final blow, causing it to dissipate.

Sora landed and was off again in an instant, rushing towards the tower, Riku, Kairi, and Axel following after him only a moment later.

The three stopped short when they realized they couldn’t see a way inside or to climb up, but Sora didn’t let it stop him as he kept going and then ran up the fucking tower.

“ _What_ the fuck.” Axel said.

“ _How_ the fuck.” Kairi said.

“How the fuck, seconded.” Riku said, “It’s not like gravity exists or anything.”

The three shared a helpless look, and decided to sit at the base of the tower to wait.

.

The three waited at the base of the tower for long enough that Riku started getting worried and was considering climbing up the tower to check if something had gone wrong. And when Sora dropped down next to them, Riku had already stood up and was examining the tower’s surface to figure out how to climb it, lamenting the fact that Flowmotion was a Sleeping Worlds trick.

“Oh, did I make you wait long?” Sora asked when he saw the relief on their faces.

“Kinda,” Axel said.

“We started worrying that something had gone wrong up there and if you needed help.” Kairi smile.

“Well…” Sora trailed off, his gaze growing distant, “I guess, for a moment there…” He shook his head, grinning at them, “But it’s okay now! Rapunzel got it handled!” His eyes softened, “It was amazing.”

Riku, Kairi, and Axel shared confused looks. Sora chuckled lightly at them and turned his gaze up, “You guys ready?”

“Yeah!” Two voices responded from above.

“Okay, I’ll spot you from the bottom! Promise to catch you if you fall!”

“Sure! And thanks!”

The four of them kept an eye out on Flynn and Rapunzel while they climbed down. When they safely touched down, Sora grinned brightly at them, and they responded in kind.

“I guess now we should head back to, uh…” Kairi trailed off as she realized she didn’t know the name of the town.

“The kingdom,” Flynn said, “Yeah, it would be safer.”

Rapunzel smiled helplessly, fingers toying with the tips of her now very short hair, “And it’s not like I can stay here anymore.”

“Take Rapunzel to Corona, part two?” Sora grinned cheekily, startling a laugh out of Rapunzel.

“I guess that would be right.” Rapunzel grinned, “Let’s go!” She pumped her first into the air. She then turned towards Riku, Kairi, and Axel.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think we met?”

“Oh!” Sora said, “That’s right! These are my friends, Riku, Kairi, and Axel!” He gestured to each of them as he said their names, “Guys, these are Flynn and Rapunzel-” A white form barreled between them to rub his face against Rapunzel’s, neighing happily, “-and Maximus.”

After the introduction, the group set out to return to Corona, though this time at a more leisurely pace. Kairi and Axel took the chance to practice against some of the Heartless and Nobodies still in the area, even though their numbers seemed to have lessened greatly since their first run through to get to the tower.

(“It’s probably because we beat that big Heartless,” Sora had said, “That’s what usually happened with me, beat a really big or powerful Heartless and it’s like a good amount of the Darkness threatening the place disappears. Donald thinks it’s maybe because the big Heartless absorbs the lesser ones? And so they disappear with it?” He shrugged.)

By the time they reached the flower field close to where they hid the Gummiship, night had fallen, and Riku was starting to feel the strain of having stayed up for over 24 hours on top of the physical exertion. He’d had worse days during the year Sora was asleep, but that didn’t mean he liked it. Next to him, Kairi was dead on her feet, unused to the strain.

Riku, remembering the downward slope towards the shore, nudged her, worrying about her making the way down in the dark in her current state, “Hey, you okay?”

Kairi let out an unintelligible mumble, blinking blearily at him.

Riku shared a look with Sora and Axel, “You guys go on without us, I’ll be taking Kairi back to our campsite. It’s pretty close.”

The others nodded, and Rapunzel grinned at Kairi, “Thank you for coming with me this far and coming to help! It’s very much appreciated! Take care and good night, Kairi! Hope we meet again!”

Kairi nodded, grinning tiredly at Rapunzel, “I’d love that!”

As the group split into two, Riku leading Kairi back to the ship’s hiding spot while the rest continued on their way to Corona.

“Do you want to sleep inside the ship or should I set up camp?”

“Camp, please.”

The two then set about pitching a tent big enough for their whole group and building a fire.

After they were finished, Kairi gracelessly dropped herself to the ground to sit next to the fire, staring at it thoughtfully.

“Hey,” She called out, pulling Riku’s attention away from where he busied himself bringing the bag of food rations out of the ship in case one of them wanted to eat.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think Sora will return with Axel?”

“I hope so.”

“It’s why I want a tent. It’ll be like we’re camping with Sora on another world. Like the adventures we wanted to have when we left the Islands.”

Riku walked over to her to sit next to her, smiling at her as he did so, “It won’t be ‘like’ we’re camping with Sora. It _will_ be camping with Sora.”

She grinned brightly at the thought despite her exhaustion. She slumped against his side, placing her head on his shoulder.

“Wake me up if I sleep before they come back.”

“Sure.”

The two stared at the fire in silence as they waited.

.

Riku didn’t know how long they spent waiting, he just knew he had to wake Kairi up twice, feeling bad about it as she jerked awake, clearly disoriented, that, as well as her obvious need to sleep.

Kairi was about to nod off again when Sora and Axel walked into their campsite, carrying brown paper bags.

“We brought food!” Sora grinned cheerfully at them, “We passed by a bakery and I thought none of you guys probably had something to eat since yesterday, which is unacceptable. But unfortunately, adventuring doesn’t always let you have time to eat when it gets rough.” He sat down next to Kairi and passed her a bag, “Kairi, you know you didn’t have to wait up on us. You’re gonna get all the sleep you can get! Reminds me of when I started with Donald and Goofy-” Sora continued chattering as he passed Riku a bag of his own. Riku observed the amount of food the two brought and decided they definitely went all out. There was enough for all of them to stuff their faces, have extra, and still have leftovers.

Which was what ended up happening, with the food disappearing quickly while Sora shared tales of his early days in adventuring. Soon enough, all of them were ready to fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

Warm, full of food, and listening to Sora’s voice washing over him, Riku felt like he could die in that moment, and feel content.

Kairi was the first to crawl into the tent, slurring out a goodnight before she dropped her head on one of the pillows, falling asleep almost instantly. Sora put the fire out, while Axel gathered the remaining food to put into their rations bag and return it to the ship, and Riku raised a barrier around their campsite and the ship, as he wasn’t about to put anyone on watch for the night.

“I missed you guys,” Sora mumbled as he walked up to Riku and hugged him tightly. Riku blinked in shock, but returned the embrace.

“We missed you, too.” Riku hid a smile in Sora’s hair, “Now, go to sleep, you sap.”

“Kaykay…” Sora squeezed him even tighter before letting go and moving into the tent and flopping to the ground next to Kairi.

Riku chuckled lightly.

He turned towards the ship to see Axel already closing its door behind him; raising his hand in a lazy wave, he went into the tent and lied down next to Sora.

When Axel reached the tent and observed their positions, he raised an eyebrow, “I’m not going to squish them in their sleep, you know,” He said in mock-offence, eyes glittering with amusement.

Riku waved a hand dismissively, “My motives are more selfish than that.”

Axel snorted softly, shaking his head, “I’ll be sleeping right next to you, so you three, keep it family friendly.”

Riku blushed, “We’re not going to do anything!” He protested weakly, “Just sleeping!”

“Right. Sure thing.”

“Oh, shut up!”

.

That night, Riku dreamt that he, Sora, and Kairi were back at Destiny Islands, sitting at the Paopu tree and watching the sunset in companionable silence.

(He also dreamt there were two of Roxas squabbling under the bridge while a black haired Kairi and a black haired Sora watched on, but dreams were weird like that, so he didn’t dwell on it.)

.

He woke up to the sound of Axel snickering, and he cracked open an eye to glare at him.

“I see the little spoon is awake.” Axel grinned, and Riku frowned at him in confusion. Axel snorted and gestured to where Kairi and Sora slept.

Riku attempted to turn around and look, but then he registered the sensation of a warm body pressed against his back, and way too many limbs thrown over him.

Suddenly, Axel’s words made a lot more sense.

“I was about to wake you guys up anyway, it’s already noon.” Axel opened the flap of the tent and exited it. Riku stared at the brightness outside and sighed. Inwardly whining about it, he started extricating himself from Sora’s and Kairi’s hold.

When he made his way to the entrance, Sora whined, flailing his arms a bit, “R’ku! C’mback!” He slurred.

“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty, it’s noon.” Riku chuckled. Sora lifted his head to squint at him.

Kairi stirred, frowning, “Too loud,” She groaned.

Riku shook his head, expression fond, and left the tent to stretch his body. Sora crawled out of the tent, flinching a bit at the sun in his face, and pouted at Riku.

Riku, feeling bold enough to tease Sora, quirked an eyebrow at him and smirked, “Keep pouting like that and maybe you’d even find your prince charming to kiss you awake.”

“ _Really?_ ” Sora blinked at him, growing more awake, “Like, maybe you? Or Kairi?” He pouted again, this time in a much more exaggerated fashion, and crawled towards Riku, grabbing onto his legs and using them to support himself as he climbed to his own feet. He wrapped his arms around Riku and batted his eyelashes at Riku, pout still firmly in place.

“Can I get my good morning kiss now?”

Riku’s face glowed red. Axel started snickering at him.

“Who’s getting a good morning kiss and from who and can I get one too?” Kairi sat up in the tent, stretching her arms. She squinted at the light outside the tent, “Ugh, someone kill the sun, it’s too bright.”

Axel burst out laughing. Kairi grumbled and flung her pillow at him. It missed, causing Axel’s laughter to increase and Kairi to stomp out of the tent to grab her pillow and attempt to suffocate him with it.

Sora pressed his face against Riku’s chest and groaned. He then let go and slid down to the ground.

“False advertisement,” He whined. “I can’t believe I got betrayed like this. Where is my kiss?!”

He flopped to the ground, lying down with his limbs spread, and looking very miserable. Riku almost felt guilty. Almost. He was still busy feeling mortified.

Off to the side, Axel managed to stop laughing and finally effectively dodge out of Kairi’s half-hearted attempts at strangling him with a pillow.

“C’mon, kiddies, breakfast time.”

“ _Food! Food! Food! Food!_ ” Kairi chanted, chucking her pillow back into the tent and rushing towards the ship to get the food bag out.

“Food!” Sora pulled himself up, looking more energetic, grin back on his face. Riku huffed in amusement.

Sora pointed at him accusingly, “We’re gonna talk about this later, mister, and don’t you forget it!”

.

After they finished eating, they packed the tent, and then sat in silence, Riku, Kairi, and Axel gazing at Sora, who calmly gazed back.

After a few minutes, Riku broke the silence, “Sora, what are you planning to do now?”

Sora sighed, “Well I gotta go back to the Keyblade Graveyard-” He pointed at them, gaze serious, “Don’t try to follow me there, okay? That’s basically where the Nort Club is centered, so it won’t be safe for you.”

“Nort Club?” Kairi repeated, confused.

“The others who got Norted.” Sora shrugged, “In other words, possessed by Xehanort. It’s like, half of the original Organization. I call it the Nort Club because I have no reason to respect them enough to call them the Organization. Xehanort wants to do dumb stuff, I’ll call his group a dumb name.”

Riku snorted, and Kairi muffled a snicker.

“Half the original Organization?” Axel frowned. “I know Xemnas, Xigbar and Is- Saïx were brought back into it, and we saw Marluxia just the other day.”

“Yep! Luxord is back! And Demyx is back! And _Larxene_ is back!”

Axel shuddered.

“What about the rest?” Riku asked. “Aside from the two Xehanorts, and Ansem? There are supposed to be thirteen vessels, and that’s ten of them. Who are the remaining three?”

Sora smiled weakly, “Well, there is me, for one.”

The other three flinched.

“Hey, it’s okay! It’s not like being a vessel is actually hurting me.” Sora waved a hand, “I think Xehanort expected his Heart to overpower mine and take complete control of me, but it didn’t, I just had unfortunate make-over, and became an ‘official’ member of the group. Even if I try to avoid their business, they tend to _make_ it my business by involving others, usually my friends, in it. You saw what happened with Marluxia… I try to make the best of it. And it’s only going to be temporary. I’m not going to remain a vessel forever.”

Kairi nodded, “We’ll get him.”

Sora grinned at her, “Yeah!”

“And the other two?” Axel asked.

“One of them is apparently another version of Xehanort.” Sora scrunched his nose, “I haven’t seen him, but I heard he was probably version who was an apprentice under Ansem the Wise.”

“You haven’t seen him, but heard about him? Really? I’m guessing Demyx is running a rumor mill again?” Axel shook his head.

Sora laughed lightly, “Yeah, besides that, Larxene keeps complaining about ‘the three Xehanorts’. Loudly.”

“And the last one?” Riku asked.

Sora awkwardly avoided his gaze, and Riku felt his stomach drop.

“So, uh, the last one, that’s, um.” Sora fiddled with his fingers, still avoiding Riku’s gaze.

“It’s me, isn’t it.”

Sora flinched.

Riku sighed, “I’m not even surprised…”

“He was originally a replica made of you, so he’s not exactly you?” Sora scratched his cheek.

“The Replica from Castle Oblivion?” Riku frowned.

Sora blinked at him, “Oh, you know about that?”

“And you _remember_ about that?”

Sora shrugged, “Side effect of Norting, ended up digging through my Heart while fighting the Xehanort bits off.”

“He’s not giving you trouble, is he?” Riku clenched his fists at his side, remembering in which period of his life the Replica was created.

“Well, if you ask him, he’d say I’m the one giving him trouble.” Sora grinned cheekily, “He’s no trouble at all.”

“Sora, what did you _do_ to the poor guy?” Kairi wondered.

“Nothing!”

“That sure sounds like something.” Kairi crossed her arms.

“Hey! Don’t look at me like that!” Sora pouted, “I just took him on a trip to have fun!” Sora’s eyes widened as he seemed to remember something, “I should really head back before he does something risky, like maybe antagonize Larxene out of boredom.” He stood up and pushed his hand out, opening a Corridor of Darkness.

“Look, guys, if you wanna follow my Heart can you give it a day before you do? I want to make sure you don’t follow me back to the Graveyard. Love you guys, bye!” With that said, he waved and then ran through the Corridor, which closed behind him.

“That was _something_ ,” Axel said.

“You can say that again…” Kairi sighed.

.

Riku hid among a cluster of rocks, scowling at the ground as if it personally offended him, and doing his best to ignore the aching bruises all over his body.

It took him hours to find the rumored sentient armor that fought anything in its sight, and boy did it sure fight anything in its sight, and hit _hard_.

He clenched his fists, he wasn’t going to let it keep him down, he was going to defeat that armor, no matter how many times it took.

His thoughts were interrupted when a Corridor of Darkness opened near his hiding spot. He inwardly groaned; that was exactly what he needed, an Organization member to start butting heads with.

Sora stepped out of the Corridor, closing it behind him.

Well, _shit_.

This was absolutely _worse_ than an Organization member finding him in this state.

“Riku!” Sora started calling out, “Riku, where are you?”

And of course he was looking for Riku.

Riku let his forehead drop against one of the rocks, and instantly regretted it when it sent a throb of pain through his head.

“Riku! There you are!” Sora cheered from behind him.

“What do you want _now_ , Sora?” Riku turned around to face him, expression set in an impressive scowl.

Sora’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.

“What?” Riku crossed his arms, “Something on my face?” He asked, tone scathing, before he belatedly remembered the massive bruise on his cheek, the reason he was avoiding other Organization members in the first place.

Sora narrowed his eyes, summoning his Keyblade to his hand, “Who did this to you?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I need to know who needs to be introduced to the business end of my Keyblade.”

Riku scoffed, “This is nothing, I’ll make them pay by myself, I don’t need your help.”

The serious expression on Sora’s face melted away into a pout, “But I _want_ to help you! You don’t have to do everything alone!” He raised his Keyblade, the tip glowing as he cast Curaga. The spell enveloped Riku, soothing the pain, and no doubt healing most of his bruises.

Sora leaned towards him, inspecting him, before deciding to cast another Curaga.

“Also seriously, who did it?” Sora frowned, “Nort Club members as a whole can’t be bothered with physical violence, unless you went and butted heads with Larxene?”

Riku suppressed a snort at ‘Nort Club’, and shook his head, “You think you’d stand a chance?”

Sora stared at him straight in the eye, “For you? Yes.”

Such a charmer.

Like Riku would blush at something like that. _Hah_.

“Aww, Riku! You’re blushing! That’s cute!”

“I’m not!”

Sora pulled his phone out of his pocket, “I will show you evidence.”

“No!” Riku lunged at Sora, holding his hands down, and keeping him from using the cursed device. “Fine, I’ll tell you! Just. _No_.”

“Okay!” Sora chirped.

This _madman_ , Riku shook his head in exasperation.

“It’s somewhere out there, there is this sentient armor. Guy likes to fight anything that comes close.”

“Huh.” Sora looked thoughtful, gaze growing distant as he seemed to remember something, “Was the armor gold and red and wore a cape?”

“Yes.” Riku frowned. How did Sora know?

“Guy sure does like to fight anything that comes close, huh?” Sora snorted, “Did he bike you?”

Riku shuddered, “Don’t remind me…”

Sora grew quiet as he gazed at one of the rocks, but definitely not seeing it, his mind miles away as he seemed to be mulling over something.

Riku raised an eyebrow, and waved a hand experimentally in front of Sora’s face. Sora didn’t even twitch. Yep, definitely lost in his mind.

Riku tapped his foot on the ground, impatient.

Sora’s gaze snapped up and he blinked, “Woah!” He tightened his grip on his Keyblade.

“I need to go get him!” Sora turned and began to walk in the direction Riku came from when he returned from his fight with the armor.

He momentarily turned around to point at Riku, “This doesn’t mean our conversation from a couple of days ago is over, young man!”

“I don’t wanna hear that from you!” Riku shouted.

“Well, too bad! You’re gonna hear it anyway!” Sora then turned around and continued walking.

Riku kept his gaze trained on Sora’s back until he disappeared in the distance among the terrain.

If Sora had a death wish, then it was none of Riku’s business; Sora could get his ass beat, Riku couldn’t care less.

.

He lasted five minutes before he started pacing, and another ten before his resolve broke, and headed in the direction Sora disappeared in, feet stomping harshly on the ground in his frustration at Sora’s recklessness and at his own inability to let Sora walk into a dangerous situation like that all by himself, especially when it was Riku who indirectly sent him danger’s way.

When he finally reached the familiar area of the arena, he heard the sound of clashing Keyblades, and he gritted his teeth. Wow. _Great_. Sora was still fighting, prolonging his own suffering.

_Just great_.

Riku peaked around the corner of a mountain side, intending to observe the fight to know when he could jump in, instead of just throwing himself into the middle of it without a plan, and that was when he noticed the fight wasn’t as one-sided as he worried it would be.

Sora was giving as good as he got, Keyblade a flash of silver as it matched the armor’s Keyblade blow for blow.

Sora then switched Kingdom Key for a different Keyblade, and reversed his grip, falling into a different stance.

The armor froze.

Riku pushed low to the ground, ready to rush out of his hiding spot and-

The armor let its Keyblade fall to its side, bringing its free hand to Sora’s head to rest it there.

Sora dismissed his own Keyblade, throwing his arms up and cheering, voice loud enough to reach Riku.

Then Sora brought his own hands around the armor in a hug.

_What. The. Fuck_.

.

“Riku! This is Lingering Will! Lingering Will, this is Riku. He’s my friend! Not to be mistaken with my other friend Riku! I’ll introduce you to him later, hopefully!”

.

Riku, Kairi, and Axel stuck around Corona for two more days, to keep an eye out for Marluxia, and make sure he wasn’t about to pop up around Rapunzel, whom they warned about the Organization.

When they left, they had only one thought about where to go next: follow Sora’s Heart.

It was easier the second time, letting their Hearts guide them to Sora. And in almost no time at all, they were landing at the foot of a mountain in a snowy area.

Riku stared out of the dome of the cockpit at the expanse of white outside, “Well. Any of you remembered to pack something heavy?”

Kairi and Axel shook their heads.

Riku sighed, “This will be fun.”

Riku stood up and walked towards the door leading out. He paused, took a deep breath, and then opened the door. Cold air immediately blasted into the cockpit.

Riku shuddered.

Kairi groaned as she walked up to him, wrapping her arms around her, “Guess if we end up spending the night, we’re staying in the ship.”

“Ice might be cold, but we have fire magic, you know?” Axel said, summoning his Keyblade.

“But our magic reserves aren’t infinite,” Kairi sighed, “And we can’t blow our Ethers to keep fire magic going indefinitely.” She pursed her lips.

“And you can’t just keep chugging Ethers because it’s not good for you.” Riku added, walking out of the ship, Kairi and Axel following him, the latter sighing in disappointment and dismissing his Keyblade.

“Now, where do you think Sora could be?” Axel wondered.

The group looked around.

“We’re going to get lost, aren’t we…” Kairi said.

“I’d say we should mark the place but I have no idea how to do that or if it will actually be useful.” Axel shrugged.

The three stood in place considering their situation.

“Snowball fight?” Kairi asked.

“Might as well, while we’re here.” Riku flexed his fingers.

“If anything could draw Sora here, it’d be a snowball fight, wouldn’t it?” Axel grinned deviously.

The three stared at each other for a long minute, and then, at an unspoken signal, they moved.

.

It was around half an hour later that they stopped, chests heaving from a combination of physical exertion and laughter, and bodies running a warmer temperature than when they started, helping them combat the cold. They huddled around their Keyblades, each of them calling forth a weak fire and letting the combined heat wash over them.

They gradually moved away from each other, and then let the fire go out.

“We should climb up a bit,” Riku said, “If no one came across us with all that noise, probably no one is close by.”

“That’s true.” Kairi nodded, “Maybe we can even get a view of the area.”

“Lead the way, boss.” Axel waved at the path ahead of them, grinning cheekily at Riku, who grimaced at him.

.

The climb was long and mostly uneventful. Riku, bored, started teaching Kairi and Axel how to perform Doubleflight, and how to call on a barrier as well as how to counter with it.

“Can’t you teach us how to glide?” Axel complained, and Kairi perked up, giving Riku a pleading look.

Riku shrugged, “Sorry, I’m fresh out, can’t teach you what I don’t know. You’re going to have to make Sora teach you how to do it. Once we catch up to him.”

Kairi pouted, “Well, any other movement techniques you know?”

Riku hummed thoughtfully, “There is Flowmotion, but that worked in the Sleeping Worlds. Not sure if it works outside of it.”

“Fine!” Kairi threw her hands in the air, “Can you tell us or show us how it worked then?”

Riku thought about it for a second before shrugging and moving towards the side of one of the mountains, “Not like anything will come out of it anyway. Alright, so Flowmotion works using your magic to get into a specific flow of fast movement. You can kick off walls, and slide on rails, and swing around poles, and it will either launch you into a superjump, or shoot you forward in a fast airdash. Not sure how I’d even explain how the magic for it works, since it was considerably instinctual while in the Sleeping Worlds.” Riku looked back at Axel and Kairi to see if they were paying attention or not. Seeing as they were hanging onto his every word, he decided to try demonstrating the movement to initiate Flowmotion.

He jumped towards the side of the mountain, pushing himself into a forward dash and twisting so his feet met the rocky surface, calling on his magic out of habit as he did so.

There was a flash of blue light as he remained braced against the mountain in the position he landed in for longer than he should be. It was almost as if…

Riku gaped, staring in shock at the mountain.

And then he fell.

He met the snowy ground with a yelp, and Axel and Kairi rushed to him.

“Riku!” Kairi called, “What happened? What was that?”

Riku snapped himself into a seated position, wide grin on his face, “Flowmotion.”

“That’s Flowmotion?” Axel frowned at the mountainside, “Getting stuck and then falling face-first on the ground?”

“Well, it’s the start of it. And I was surprised, so I didn’t catch myself.” Riku stared at the side of the mountain, thoughts whirring inside his head. With a breathless laugh, he jumped at the mountain again, this time pushing himself into a superjump.

He could hear the other two exclaim in shock as he flipped from his position against the surface and into the air, blue magic surrounding him and trailing after him as he arched through the air.

He was smirking when he landed, “Let’s see what else Flowmotion can do while in the waking world.”

The three lost track of time while Riku experimented with Flowmotion, observed by Kairi and Axel for a while before they too picked up on how to do it, using it to make their climb easier.

Eventually, they had to take a break, so they cleared a couple of rocks of the snow that was covering them, and sat on them to rest and drink some water.

“I bet the view would be beautiful once we reach the top, right?” Kairi asked, grinning as she looked around, “We’ll be able to see everything, maybe even we’ll see if there are any towns nearby.”

“Maybe,” Riku said, “Or maybe this whole world is actually inhabited by non-humans and we’ll stick out like a sore thumb.”

Axel snorted.

Kairi huffed, “Well, humans or not, Sora’s here, and that’s enough.”

As if on cue, a figure wearing dark clothes slid down the mountain, letting out a loud whoop. The three blinked at the figure in shock.

“Hi, Riku! Kairi! Axel!” Sora waved at them, maneuvering whatever he was using to slide on the snow so he could move closer to them. “You’re here!”

Then, another figure jumped off an upper path from between the trees and landed right in front of Sora, “Too slow, Sora!” Riku’s Replica shouted, “At this rate, I’m going to leave you in the dust, _slowpoke_!”

Sora gasped, scandalized, and crouched lower to increase his speed, “You’re _on_!”

The other three gaped at them.

“What the hell…” Axel shook his head.

A red and gold blur shot past them, ruffling their hair. Further down, Sora and Riku’s Replica sensed the third figure gaining on them and turned to catch sight of the third figure making their way in between them, pushing them to the side, and covering them in the snow kicked up on their sides from their speed.

Riku was the first to push off his seat and rush towards Sora, who was flailing his arms through the snow piled on top of him, but Kairi beat him down the slope as she slid down on the snow.

“Sora?” She called out, and a moment later, he managed to sit up, shaking his head to dislodge snow from his hair.

“I’m fine.” He patted his jacket to dust snow off himself. “Guess I should have thought it through before I invited someone who has a bike to join a race.” He grinned sheepishly.

Riku walked behind him and pulled him up to stand.

“I could have done that by myself.” Sora pouted slightly.

Axel slid down next to them, chuckling, “Let the mother hen get it out of his system.”

Riku frowned, “I’m not a mother hen.”

A couple of meters off to the side, Riku’s Replica burst out of the pile of snow he was in, Darkness swirling around his dark suit-clad form, Soul Eater in hand, and glared down the slope.

“That bastard wants a fight?” He growled, “He’s gonna get it.” He pushed down the slope, sliding down, murder written all over his face.

“Oh, man.” Sora rubbed the back of his head, “He’s gonna get his ass handed to him.”

Riku waved Sora’s concern off, “I’m sure he can take care of himself,” He said blandly.

“Aw, Riku!” Sora sent him a scandalized look.

“What?” Riku blinked back at him, “He wants to pick a fight, he’ll have to deal with the consequences himself. It’s called growing up. I’m sure he needs it.” He smiled serenely.

“Man, you’re ruthless towards your Replica,” Axel said.

“Nonsense!” Riku said, crossing his arms.

Sora sighed, “Are we gonna have to have a talk about that?”

“No, there is absolutely no need.”

Sora huffed, “On the bright side, it shouldn’t take them too long. Lingering Will finishes quickly.”

“Lingering Will? What?” Kairi tilted her head in confusion.

“Oh, look, there they are.” Sora pointed down the slope.

The three turned to see an armored man climb the incline with absolute ease, Riku’s Replica draped over his shoulder, and holding a Keyblade.

“Like I said, quick,” Sora said and waved towards the armored man.

It didn’t take long for the man to reach them with his steady pace, and once he did, he unceremoniously dropped Riku’s Replica into the snow.

“Riku!” Sora crouched next to him and shook him; the Replica groaned.

Kairi crouched next to Sora, “Does he need a Cure?”

“A Cure or two won’t hurt,” Sora said, “Can’t hurt him more than he’s already hurt anyway. I know his dignity is in tatters and he just wishes to die.” Sora braced his elbows on his knees, and placed his chin in his hands, “You’re gonna get up or am I gonna have to pull you up?”

The Replica didn’t respond.

Sora sighed, “Fine. You give me no other choice.” Sora reached with one hand into his pocket to get his phone out, “You sure look lovely defeated and dumped into the snow like that-”

The Replica suddenly pushed himself up on his hands and launched himself at Sora, “ _Don’t you fucking dare_!”

“Watch me,” Sora said, keeping his phone out of the Replica’s reach.

Axel placed his hand on his chest, “Blackmail, what a lovely friendship they have.” He mimed wiping tears out of his eyes.

Riku suppressed a snort.

He watched the Replica and Sora wrestle in the snow over the phone for a few moments before he pulled his attention towards where he felt a gaze focus on him, only to come face to face with the armored man, who seemed intent on observing him.

“Something wrong?” Riku asked, slightly wary.

_‘You…’_

Riku startled; the man spoke, but at the same didn’t. There was no voice, just the word slipping into his awareness in the strangest form of mental conversation. Even Ansem spoke with his own voice to Riku when he was inside of Riku’s Heart, so why…

_‘You… are the one… I chose…’_ The man then turned his attention away from Riku and towards Sora. Riku blinked in shock; the one he chose? Chose for what?

Riku’s gaze dropped to the Keyblade in the man’s hand, and hazy, old memories stirred at the edges of his awareness.

The Keyblade felt very familiar.

Riku clenched his fist.

.

After five minutes of watching Sora and the Replica squabble over the phone, the armored man seemed to have lost interest. He stabbed his Keyblade into the snow and sunk to his knees, head bowed and hands braced on top of the Keyblade before going still in a way that sent shivers down Riku’s spine.

Meanwhile, Kairi decided to cut into the bickering duo, taking the Replica’s attention away from Sora, who used the opportunity to run back towards Axel and Riku.

“Phew!” Sora placed a hand on his chest, sighing, “Thank god for Kairi, Riku almost got the phone from me.”

“Do I want to know what’s on the phone to make him want to get it from you so bad?” Riku raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know, do you?” Sora asked back, grinning cheekily at him.

Riku scrunched his nose, “If you’re responding like that, then I don’t think I really want to know.”

Axel snorted.

“So…” Sora started, “I kinda forgot to ask last time, but what are the others doing? Goofy, Donald, and King Mickey? I know you guys are training and looking for the new Princesses, are they looking for the Princesses too?”

Riku shook his head, “They’re searching for Master Aqua.”

Sora blinked, a strange expression passing over his face briefly, “She’s one of the three Keyblade wielders Yen Sid mentioned, right? Why are they looking for her specifically? Do they know where she is?”

“Mickey said he last saw her in the Realm of Darkness.”

“Aqua’s in the Realm of Darkness?” Sora blurted out, voice echoing with other voices, and shock written clear on his face.

“I’m sure Mickey and the others will find her.” Riku placed a comforting hand on Sora’s shoulder.

Sora’s gaze grew distant.

“Sora?” Riku called out to him, and when he didn’t respond, lightly shook his shoulder.

Sora snapped back into awareness and slipped from Riku hold, heading towards the armored man and placing a hand on his shoulder, leaning down to whisper in his ear. The mysterious man seemed to come to life, rising to his feet and pulling his Keyblade out of the snow to stand at attention.

Sora waved in the direction of Kairi and the Replica before shouting, “Riku! We’re leaving! An emergency came up!”

Surprising Riku, the Replica didn’t protest and simply made his way back to Sora.

Sora then turned towards Riku, “Sorry we had to cut this short.” He looked genuinely apologetic, not that Riku doubted him, but he was starting to worry.

“Sora,” Riku started, gaze serious, “You’re not thinking about going into the Realm of Darkness, are you? It’s dangerous-” _I’m going with you_ , he stopped himself before he could continue talking. Every fiber of his being was screaming at him to go with Sora, to watch his back while going into a place like the Realm of Darkness, but Axel and Kairi were with him too, and there was no way he would take them there. Leaving them behind was not an option, either.

Sora smiled at him, eyes soft and understanding, but determined, “Riku,” He said, voice regaining the echoing quality, “I have to do this.”

Riku clenched his fists at his side before he let the fight bleed out of him, “Okay. Okay.”

Sora grinned, “I’ll be back before you know it.”

Riku smiled tiredly at him.

“Riku!” Axel cut in, “You can’t just let him go like that!”

“Axel, his Heart and mind are made up.”

“You can’t be serious!” Axel turned towards Sora, “You, too! I can’t let you go!”

“Axel,” Sora’s grin turned apologetic, voice echoing again, “I’m sorry, but I have to go.”

Axel looked pained as he screwed his eyes shut.

“Oi, Sora!” The Replica called out, “You said we’re leaving, get in here!”

“Sora?” Kairi asked as she approached them, frowning, “What is it?”

Instead of responding, Sora grabbed her hands and pulled her close until he could press his forehead against hers, eyes closing.

She closed her eyes, face set in concentration.

“Oh.” She pulled away until she stood next to Riku, tears streaming down her face, “Take care, okay.”

“We will,” Sora responded, voice echoing.

He then grabbed Riku’s hands and held them between his, “Listen, there is a town close by, down the mountain, called Arendelle, there are two of new Princess living there: Queen Elsa and her sister, Princess Anna. The Organization already knows about them, since Larxene was here yesterday, observing them.”

“We’ll check on them.” Riku nodded, “Make a sweep of the area.”

Sora grinned, “Thanks.” He then turned to Axel and hugged him.

Sora then pulled away and walked towards the Replica and the armored Keyblade wielder, a Corridor of Darkness forming a couple of feet behind them. Sora, the Replica, and the mysterious Keyblade wielder walked through it, the Corridor disappearing behind them.

Kairi raised her hands to her face to start wiping away the tears.

“Kairi, you okay?” Riku asked her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“Yeah. The tears aren’t really mine.”

“Namine?”

Kairi shook her head, and didn’t elaborate further.

.

The three of them walked out of the Corridor into the sunny beach of the play island.

“Why here?” Riku frowned.

Sora turned in place, eyes scanning the island, “We’re going to the Realm of Darkness, and when I think about it, I always think about Destiny Islands.”

“Realm of Darkness.” Riku deadpanned, “Right, no problem at all. I take vacations in the Realm of Darkness.”

Sora’s face reddened in embarrassment, “Oh, sorry, you don’t want to come? I should have asked, of course you didn’t, who even wants to go-”

“Sora. Shut up. I’m going.”

“Riku… Thanks. It means a lot to me.”

“Right, you can stop acting like I kicked your puppy,” Riku grunted.

“Okay!”

“So, where to next?”

“Oh, I was thinking about-” Sora cut himself off when Lingering Will started to walk across the beach.

Sora sent the armor a strange look and followed him. Riku raised an eyebrow and trailed after them.

What caught the armor’s attention turned out to be a Keyblade of all things, discarded on the beach.

Sora inhaled sharply, “Master Eraqus’ Keyblade,” He said, voice echoing. He walked towards the Keyblade, bending down to take a hold of it. He straightened, gripping the handle with both hands and aiming the Keyblade in front of him, eyes closed in concentration. A sphere of light formed at the tip, and shot a beam at an angle, aiming towards the waterfall. Riku turned to follow it, and startled when he saw it instead led to a door he was sure wasn’t there before, placed in front of the entrance to the Secret Place.

“Sora, look!”

Sora opened his eyes and traced the beam of light towards the door. He huffed, “Of course it’s the Secret Place. Let’s go.”

.

When they stepped through the door, they found themselves falling down into a dark beach, the water black in the dark, and the sand a dark shade of grey.

As befitting the Realm of Darkness, Riku figured.

There were two figures sitting at the beach, turned around to face them, looking wary, one of them was a blond man wearing the Organization’s cloak, the other a blue haired young woman dressed in black, blue, and white. Lingering Will rushed at them.

The young woman ran at him, meeting him halfway with a shout of “ _Terra?!_ ”

“Terra?” Riku frowned, “What?”

He was about to turn and ask Sora, since he seemed to know enough about Lingering Will, but Sora had already left, running towards the others.

“ _Aqua!_ ” Sora called out, voice echoing.

The young woman turned to face him, blinking at him in surprise that increased when Sora reached her and threw himself at her in a hug.

“Terra? What’s going on?” She turned towards Lingering Will (Terra?), confused.

Riku sighed and started walking towards the three of them. He reached them just in time to hear Sora start talking with his echoing voice.

“Aqua, it’s me, Ven!”

“Ven?” The young woman, Aqua, looked shocked, “But-”

Sora rubbed the back of his head, “Well, this is Sora. He’s been keeping my Heart safe while I recovered. He’s allowing me to talk to you through him.”

Riku’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Well, that… that was something.

“Ven?” Tears gathered in Aqua’s eyes, “I’m sorry I left you alone for so long.” Tears spilled down her cheeks as she hugged Sora (Ven?) tightly.

After a few minutes, Sora-Ven pulled back, “Also this isn’t exactly Terra. It’s his armor, controlled by impressions left behind by his feelings. I call him Terra’s Lingering Will. Terra is still out there, somewhere. But we’re going to find him!”

Aqua nodded, determination glinting in her eyes.

Riku rubbed at his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

There was a sound of someone clearing their throat, and the group turned to face the blond man.

“Ansem the Wise?” Sora blurted out, voice back to normal.

“ _Ansem the Wise?!_ ” Riku repeated, incredulous. “What do you mean Ansem the Wise? That guy definitely doesn’t look like Ansem. I’d know! A fake copy of the real Riku or not, I still have his memories so I remember exactly how Ansem looks like!” His outburst pulled the group’s attention towards him.

“Wait, Riku, you didn’t know?” Sora asked, “You mean, they didn’t explain it to you? About Ansem and Xehanort?” Sora looked bewildered.

“Know _what_ about Ansem and Xehanort?” Riku ground out.

“Ansem is Xehanort’s Heartless,” Sora said, “When Xehanort was an apprentice to Ansem the Wise.”

“He betrayed me,” The blond man spoke up, “My memories are hazy, but Sora talking about it is helping me remember. Xehanort betrayed me, and cast me out to the Realm of Darkness. He then started calling himself Ansem.”

Sora continued, “And after that, he separated his Heart from his body, resulting in his Heartless and Nobody: Ansem and Xemnas.”

Riku scowled, “But they don’t look anything like him! How did they come from the same person?”

“Well, they may look somewhat different, but they’re not that different,” Sora said, “I even saw a… portrait…” Sora trailed off, starting to look horrified.

“What is it?” Aqua asked, starting to look worried.

“The Xehanort who apprenticed under Ansem the Wise,” Sora said, voice echoing, but still containing the horror he felt, “That was Terra.”

“Sora what the fuck-” Riku’s head started pounding, “What the fuck are you going on about?”

“Xehanort possessed Terra you dumb fucks, is _what_ we’re saying!” Sora snapped, voice no longer echoing, but his tone was different enough he almost sounded like someone different.

Aqua flinched back, “Vanitas!” She fell into a fighting stance, gaze cold as it fell on Sora.

Sora rolled his eyes, “Yes, I’m here, too, I merged with Ventus didn’t I? It’s just one giant clusterfuck of a Heart inside this idiot. Anyway. Terra. Xehanort possessed him. What do you think all that making Terra fall to Darkness over ten years ago was about? Xehanort wanted a new vessel, and Terra was a good fit for the job. Is it clear or do I need to dumb it down some more for you?” Sora then dropped his face into his palm and groaned, voice returning to the echoing quality, “ _Goddammit, Vanitas_.”

He raised his hands in a placating manner, “Please calm down, Aqua?” He said, giving her the Puppy Dog Eyes of Doom, “Yes, Vanitas is here too, but he usually behaves himself, he just snapped because we were all panicking in here and none of us knew what to do.”

Aqua begrudgingly relaxed her stance, “Fine,” She gritted out, “Just for you, Ven.”

“Thank you, Aqua.” Sora-Ven sighed in relief.

Aqua pinched the bridge of her nose, “Ven, Sora, and whoever else is in there, I hope you guys didn’t just come in without a plan in regards to how to get out.”

Sora grinned and sent her a thumbs-up before opening a Corridor of Darkness, “One Corridor of Darkness to Destiny Islands! Come on!” He then skipped through it.

Surprising the rest, Ansem the Wise was the first to follow Sora through the Corridor.

Aqua looked skeptically at the Corridor, clearly hesitant to just walk through it so boldly. Riku scowled, “What? You want to get out of here, or not?”

Aqua blinked at him in shock before exhaling, “Right.” She then took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before walking through the Corridor, followed by Lingering Will.

Riku rolled his eyes and passed through the portal after them.

On the other side, he almost collided with Aqua, who stood still in front of the Corridor, on his way out. He grunted and side stepped her, going to stand next to Sora.

“This is the Realm of Light…” Aqua whispered, her voice shaking.

Sora nodded, “You’re home, Aqua,” Sora-Ven said.

Aqua sobbed.

.

The group let Aqua cry in peace, with Sora hugging her and Lingering Will placing a hand on her back.

After she stopped, she scrubbed her face with her hands and looked at Sora with determination, “I’m going to get Ven’s body. Then his Heart will be able to return to it, correct?”

Sora nodded, then turned to look at Ansem the Wise, “I’ll take you with me to Radiant Garden afterwards, is that alright?”

Ansem the Wise chuckled lightly, “I’ve been away from Radiant Garden for over ten years, Sora, a day more wouldn’t make a difference.”

“Riku?” Sora turned pleading eyes towards him, “You’re coming with me, right?”

Riku scowled at him, “As if you’ll let me say no to coming with you.”

Sora grinned brightly, then turned back towards Aqua, extending his hand and summoning the Keyblade they found on the beach earlier. He then offered it to Aqua.

Aqua accepted the Keyblade with shock clear on her face.

Sora’s grin softened into a smile, “It’s what led us to you.”

Aqua nodded, gripping the Keyblade tightly. She straightened and walked off to the side, aiming the Keyblade straight ahead. Light shot out of the tip of the Keyblade, forming a portal. She turned to face them with a smile on her face, “Let’s go.”

.

The group passed through the portal and walked out into a path leading towards an oddly styled castle, standing tall under its world’s dark sky.

Riku frowned, wondering why the castle seemed so horribly familiar. He received his answer when Sora, standing next to him, inhaled sharply, “ _Castle Oblivion?!_ ” He whispered, shocked.

“ _This_ is Castle Oblivion?” Riku, bewildered, turned towards Sora.

“You never saw what it looked like on the outside?”

“No…”

“Aqua, what…” Sora started, but trailed off when he saw Aqua walk on ahead with purposeful stride, Lingering Will following her, and Ansem the Wise trailing a couple of paces behind them.

Sora and Riku shared a confused look and jogged to catch up with the others.

Aqua came to a stop in front of the Castle, and took a deep breath before raising her Keyblade and aiming it at the building, light shooting from its tip. When the beam of light touched the face of the Castle, there was a loud click of a lock being unlocked, and bright colors flashed across the face of the Castle. The building then started stretching and expanding while bright light flared out, encompassing the area.

When everything calmed down, the area had completely changed. Dreary landscape and dark sky became grassy mountains with flowing waterfalls and a bright midday’s blue sky, plain pathway became a cobblestone path leading to a courtyard, and twisted castle became a grand palace in white and gold.

“The Land of Departure,” Sora-Ven whispered in awe.

Aqua turned to face them with a bright smile on her face, and gestured for them to follow her inside.

The interior was more welcoming than Castle Oblivion’s sterile white, with its warm browns, dull golds, and sedate blues, daylight filtering through stained glass windows.

Riku was stunned, unable to believe that Castle Oblivion hid all of _this_ under its surface.

Aqua led them through the entrance hall and up a couple of flights of stairs into a spacious hall that had a balcony on one end, allowing a view of the entrance, and three high backed chairs on the other.

The chair in the middle was occupied by a boy with blond hair, sleeping peacefully.

Aqua walked towards the boy, followed by Lingering will, until they stood next to the chair, Aqua placing a gentle hand on the boy’s head. She turned to look towards the rest.

“Sora?” She pleaded, and Sora nodded, jogging towards them. Riku decided to follow.

Once Sora reached the three of them, he stopped in front of the chair, closing his eyes and holding his hands to his chest.

He inhaled, exhaled, and pulled his hands away from his chest, a Heart leaving his chest, nestled in Sora’s hands. The Heart then floated towards the boy, entering his chest.

Aqua and Sora looked on with bated breath.

The boy’s eyes fluttered open, showing bright blue eyes. He boy looked around him blearily, and smiled sleepily.

“Good morning, Ven,” Aqua said, tears in her eyes.

The boy, Ven, smiled wider, “Good morning, Aqua.”

Sora threw his arms in the air and cheered loudly, and Aqua threw her arms around Ven in a tight embrace that Ven returned. The two of them then reached for Lingering Will and pulled him into the embrace as well.

While the three of them had their emotional reunion, Sora stepped back until he was standing next to Riku, arms behind his head, and a happy smile on his face.

“With Ven back in his own body, all that’s left is to go to Radiant Garden and check on Even’s and Ienzo’s progress on the replicas.”

Riku frowned, feeling his fingers twitch at the topic, “Replicas?”

“Yeah,” Sora said, letting his arms fall so he could place a hand over his heart, “It’s not just Ven’s Heart inside of mine, he just happened to be the only one who had his body waiting for him to return to it. The rest don’t, that’s what the replicas would be for.”

Riku looked at his hands, “I didn’t think replicas could function like that.”

“You’re one of the main reasons I thought about it,” Sora said, “It doesn’t matter how you came to be, you went through your own experiences, you experienced your own emotions, you got your own heart. You’re your own person now.”

Riku snorted, “That’s one passionate speech.”

“Well,” Sora started, “I’ve had a lot to think about in the past year. And you’re not alone. I know others who went through something similar. One of them would love to talk to you and get to know you. She was also created to be a replica, but she grew to be her own person.”

When Riku didn’t respond, Sora patted him on the shoulder, “Think about it.” With that, he moved towards Ventus who was waving at him.

Riku stared at his hands, then clenched his fists, deciding to think about it later. He walked towards the group still clustered around the chairs.

“Sora,” Ven started, “You said you were going to head to Radiant Garden, for the replicas, right?”

Sora nodded.

“I’m coming with you,” Ven said.

“Then I’m coming, too,” Aqua said.

“Aqua, Vanitas will be there, too.” He looked at her worriedly, “I know he got better, but I know you don’t like him, so I’m not going to force you two to ignore the past and act nicely to each other.”

Aqua sighed, “I will do my best to keep myself in check as long as he doesn’t hurt you, then.”

Ven smiled at her, thankful, then turned to send a pleading look towards Lingering Will, who responded by putting a hand on Ven’s head.

Ven sighed, “I guess this is all I can hope to get, huh.”

.

Sora used a Corridor of Darkness to transport them from the Land of Departure to a lab.

Riku scowled when his eyes landed on Vexen and Zexion.

“Even! Ienzo!” Sora called out, “How are the replicas going?”

Vexen crossed his arms and glared at Sora, “Finally you show up?” He gestured towards the far wall where three tables covered in sheets were placed next to each other neatly. “The three you wanted in a rush are ready, but you better not be leaving for a couple more days because I need to have them tested to see if they’re functioning for whatever it is that you wanted them for. Ienzo!” Vexen waved Zexion over to him, but Zexion stood rooted in place, staring at Ansem the Wise in shock.

“Master…” Zexion whispered.

“Well met, little Ienzo,” Ansem the Wise said, “Or maybe not so little anymore…” His eyes looked Zexion over, sadness and regret sparking in them.

Vexen sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Tearful reunions later, we have replicas we’re working on.”

Zexion looked from Vexen to Ansem the Wise, and back again, before nodding and heading towards the far wall to grab a hold of one of the tables and wheel it towards the middle of the lab.

While Zexion brought the other two tables, Sora headed towards the first table. He stood next to the table and imitated what he did in the Land of Departure; reaching towards his chest with both hands and then pulling them back as he pulled a Heart out of his chest. The Heart hovered over the sheet-covered table, and sunk into it, no doubt entering the replica kept under the sheet.

There was a moment of silence before the sheet was shoved aside, and a Ven lookalike dressed in an Organization cloak, sat up, sending Sora a playfully annoyed look, “You couldn’t even take the sheet off beforehand? Rude,” He said in mock-anger. Even his voice was similar to Ven’s.

Riku could hear Aqua gasp in shock behind him.

“But, Roxas!” Sora pouted, placing his hands on his hips, “What if you were naked under the sheet?”

Roxas nudged Sora’s shoulder with a grin, “I think that’s the last thing I have to worry about when you’re involved.” He hopped off the table, and turned to watch Sora approach the second table, and repeat the process with another Heart.

This time, the sheet was moved aside in a more controlled fashion, and a girl with short black hair and blue eyes, also wearing the Organization cloak, sat up and hopped off the table.

“Xion!” Roxas broke into a wide grin and launched himself towards her to hug her tightly.

“Roxas!” She laughed as she hugged him back, just as tightly.

While the two hugged, Sora moved to the third table, removing a _third_ Heart from his chest (honestly, just how many Hearts did he actually have inside his? Riku was baffled).

The Heart hovered over the sheet while everyone watched. And hovered.

And hovered.

And hovered some more.

“For god’s sake,” Sora muttered, and shoved the Heart down, “Vanitas, stop being shy.”

The sheet was thrown back at Sora as ‘Vanitas’ rose with a snarl, “ _Who are you calling shy, you little bitch?!_ ”

Sora, Roxas, and Xion laughed while Ven shook his head in fond exasperation.

Meanwhile, Riku was busy gaping at Vanitas, who looked like a black haired, yellow-eyed version of Sora, dressed in the same dark suit as Riku himself, done in red and black.

_What the actual fuck._

.

Riku, Kairi, and Axel made their way to Arendelle and spent two days in the town keeping an eye out for Larxene or any other member of the Organization.

(Thankfully, the world wasn’t inhabited by non-humans, and claiming they were travelers stopping by before they continued on their journey helped them lay low while they searched the area.)

By the third day, they were back in the Gummiship and getting ready to leave, which led them to wonder about where to go next.

“What, not following Sora’s Heart this time?” Axel asked.

Riku frowned, “We’ll be back on the Sora trail soon, but I was thinking we should check in at the Tower to update Master Yen Sid about the latest news. We haven’t been there since before we headed to Olympus, remember? We already found three of the new Seven Hearts, and the Organization knows about them, too, so we should tell him about that, at least.”

“That’s true, I guess,” Axel said, looking thoughtful, “Sora also gave us the identities of the rest of the Organization members, so there’s that, too.”

“Hey, guys,” Kairi started, “Can we go to Destiny Islands first. Just for a couple of hours? There is something that I…” She trailed off, looking unsure whether she should continue or not.

Riku and Axel shared curious looks, and Axel shrugged.

“Sure, why not.”

.

A quick call to Chip and Dale later, and they were on their way to Destiny Islands, following the marker on the map.

Riku landed the ship on the play island, in the exact spot Donald used back when they came to take Kairi, which felt like it happened ages ago, even though it couldn’t have been barely more than two weeks.

Axel and Kairi set out by themselves, while Riku lingered for a bit, looking around and allowing his memories to wash over him.

Minutes later, he shook his head, and followed the path Kairi and Axel took to see that Kairi went to sit on the Paopu tree while Axel was down by the beach, fiddling with a seashell.

Kairi, probably feeling his gaze on her, turned around and waved at him to come over. He grinned fondly, remembering all the times she and Sora used to do the same whenever one of them was already at the tree and wanted the rest of their trio to join them, and let his feet take him to the tree, tracing the old, familiar path he always walked on, along the bridge and towards the tree.

Kairi patted the spot next to her on the tree, and he climbed the trunk to sit next to her.

The two sat in companionable silence, watching the horizon.

After five minutes, Riku heard Kairi shuffle in place a bit and then call out to him, “Hey, Riku.”

“What is it?” He turned to see her offering a Paopu fruit. He blushed, “Kairi?”

Kairi hummed, hand still outstretched with the Paopu fruit held out to Riku, “If you don’t want to share it with me, that’s fine. I just want to be part of your life, and you to be a part of mine; I don’t know what will happen next, what it will do to us, if it will separate us again or not. The Paopu fruit might not hold any special magic that will keep us connected, but…”

Riku sighed, “I get what you mean. It’s the thought that counts, right?” Kairi nodded, “Kairi, I thought. I thought you wanted to share one with Sora. Not me.”

“Sora is my best friend, of course I do! But he’s not my only best friend, Riku, you are too. Once we get Sora back, we’ll share one with him too, if you want to share one with him. I know Sora would love to share one with you.”

Riku’s blush intensified.

“Riku?”

“Okay. If that’s okay with you.”

“Of course it is.”

Riku accepted the fruit from her and took a bite before he gave it back to her. She accepted it and took her own bite.

Riku chewed and swallowed in a daze, then he pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

Kairi snorted as she swallowed, almost choking, and Riku panicked, reaching for her to hit her on the back as Kairi tried not to let the mouthful of Paopu go down the wrong pipe.

Kairi inhaled deeply when she finished and then she burst into laughter. Riku found himself laughing along with her.

Their laughter was cut off when they heard Sora singing from behind them, “Riku and Kairi sitting in a tree~ K. I. S. S. I. N. G.~ First comes the Paopu fruit, then comes marriages, then comes the baby in the carriage!~”

Riku’s face flared red, “ _Soraohmygod!_ ”

He whipped his head around to see Sora walking down the bridge, shoving his phone in his pocket.

Riku stared at him, horrified, “You recorded that?”

Sora grinned mischievously, “All of it.”

“Sora, you ass!” Kairi laughed in disbelief and gestured for him to come closer, “Come, sit with us.”

“Aww, guys~ You’re so cute~” Sora cooed as he walked closer towards the tree. When he got close enough, Riku and Kairi grabbed him and pulled him up to sit between them.

“I could have totally climbed on by myself.” Sora pouted.

“Sure, Sora.” Riku grinned.

Sora opened his mouth to retaliate, but he was cut off by a shout of “AXEL!” coming from the beach, and the three turned to see Axel get tackled into the ground with the power of an enthusiastic hug from two people dressed in an Organization cloak.

“Is that Roxas?” Riku asked, shocked.

Sora, seemingly forgetting the earlier teasing, grinned as he swung his legs back and forth, “Yep! And that’s Xion!”

“Xion?” Riku repeated, feeling hazy memories stirring at the edge of his awareness.

“It’s good to see them reunited,” Kairi said, a soft smile on her face.

“That’s true,” Riku murmured.

Two blurs shot past the hug pile on the sand, and Riku blinked as he followed them until they reached the wooden gate leading to the rest f the island.

“I win!” The Replica shouted, chest heaving, and pointing victoriously at another figure dressed in a similar dark suit, with spiky dark hair and yellow eyes, and looking disturbingly like Sora.

The figure scoffed, “Best two out of three.”

The Replica growled at him, “You want to be a sore loser? Fine!”

The Sora lookalike scoffed, “ _I’m_ being a sore loser? You’re the one who challenged me to a race when I beat you your ass in a spar.”

The Replica summoned Soul Eater and slashed at the Sora lookalike, who summoned a black and red Keyblade and blocked the attack. The two glared at each other over their clashing weapons.

“Vanitas! Riku! You two are flirting way too loudly!” Roxas called out.

The replica and ‘Vanitas’ turned to snarl at the approaching Roxas who- actually wasn’t Roxas. Riku blinked and looked back at the hug pile to see Roxas was still there and busy hugging Axel to death. So, there were two of Sora, two of Roxas, and two of Riku, all in the same space.

If _that_ wasn’t a recipe for disaster, Riku didn’t know what was. He looked at the sky. Nope, no big ball of Darkness sucking everything into it and out of existence.

_Yet_.

“ _We’re not flirting!_ ”

“Why would I want to flirt with this copycat flaming pile of garbage?!”

“ _Who are you calling a copycat flaming pile of garbage?!_ ”

Not-Roxas sighed.

“Ven! You want Vanitas to live a semi-normal life, then he’s going to learn that pulling on the metaphorical pigtails of the person he likes isn’t the way to go, all by himself!”

“But Aqua!” Not-Roxas- Ven?- turned pleading eyes towards a blue-haired young woman approaching him, with the mysterious armored Keyblade wielder trailing closely after her.

“Aqua?” Riku repeated, “Like, Master Aqua?”

“Yep,” Sora responded cheerfully, and Riku whipped his head around to stare incredulously at Sora, whose eyes twinkled mischievously.

“Sora, what did you _do_?”

“ _No~thing!~_ ”

Kairi huffed, “Never you mind what Sora did, there are more pressing matters.”

“Like what?”

Kairi waved her hand still holding onto the Paopu fruit she just shared with Riku, bringing their attention back to it, “Like this.”

“Oh,” Sora simply said. Riku blushed.

“So, Sora, what do you think? And Riku?”

Riku stared at her and Sora, and then nodded, so Kairi presented the fruit to Sora, who accepted it from her gingerly.

“From the both of us, and only if you want.”

Sora smiled softly at the fruit in his hands and took a bite.

.

End

Later when they get around to the whole final battle thing, Xehanort gets defeated, no one dies, and everyone lives happily ever after.

AUAU #1 – Spanner in the Works: Put A Stopper On It  
A.K.A A young Xehanort from the future goes back to the end of DDD just before Xehanort Norts Sora and basically goes ‘Hoe don’t do it, don’t Nort the boy’.

AUAU #2 – Spanner in the Works: Party of One (Five) Going on Six  
A.K.A Kairi goes with Sora when he leaves the Islands.

There were supposed to be notes here but then I looked at the size of the fic and decided that would probably be A Lot.

30% of this fic is basically: keyblade, heart, darkness, light, Sora, RikuKairiAxelLea.


End file.
